May have gone downhill a bit for me with my last viewing, but it's still a fine accomplishment from DreamWorks Animation

Rating: 8/10 (27 September 2008)

This was a very successful effort from DreamWorks Animation when it was released in 2001. I didn't go to see it in theatres, and don't think I knew about it until late in 2001, after it came into stores. I remember around then being asked it I had seen the movie, but the answer was no, I think until shortly before Christmas that year. When that happened, I remember I was not disappointed. I'm not sure whether I saw the entire thing from start to finish between then and this year, but I did so a couple nights ago (I know that was the first time in quite a while), and I don't think I liked it quite as much as before, but I think it came close.
Shrek is a green hermit ogre and who lives peacefully in a swamp, and is generally feared by others in the land. However, one day, he meets a talking donkey in the forest who is running from captivity, and unintentionally saves him. After this, Donkey, who has no friends, begins to follow Shrek back to his swamp, and the ogre has finally met someone who isn't afraid of him, though the chatterbox donkey will find that Shrek is very unfriendly. That night, Donkey has to sleep outside, and Shrek soon finds that his swamp is crowded with fairy tale characters! He tells them to leave, but learns that they can't! They have been banished by the evil Lord Farquaad, and have no other place to go! So, Shrek sets out with Donkey to talk to Farquaad and get his swamp back. Farquaad wants to become a king, and plans to marry Princess Fiona, who is trapped in a dragon's castle, surrounded by lava, waiting for her true love, so he makes a deal with Shrek. If the ogre rescues Princess Fiona for him, his swamp will be back the way it was. Shrek immediately accepts, and sets out with Donkey to the dragon's castle, determined to get his swamp back, but on the way back with the princess, unexpected things happen!
The last two DreamWorks Animation efforts I watched prior to watching this one again were "Shark Tale" (which I had seen before), and "Madagascar". Donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy, is sometimes funny, but his chattering can sometimes be a bit much, with lines such as, "And then one time I ate some rotten berries. Man, there were some strong gases seepin' outta my butt that day!" I may not have found the character as amusing as I did before, but the parts where he gets on Shrek's nerves tend to be good for laughs. Shrek, with a voice provided by Mike Myers, can also add to the humour, such as around the beginning with the way he suddenly appears in the presence of a bunch of hunters, talks to them about ogres, and scares them off, and other scenes where he shows his anger. The film does have some gross-out gags, including much of the opening sequence, and Shrek pulling earwax out of his ear to use for a candle. I didn't care much for those, but fortunately, there aren't too many of them. Aside from the humour, there are also some moments of excitement, including Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona running from the dragon and trying to get back across the bridge over the lava! There are also some deep, maybe touching moments, such as Shrek telling Donkey why people look at him the way they do, and the struggling romance. Last but not least, unsurprisingly, this 2001 animated feature has great 3-D animation, something I can usually say about these CGI animated films.
This effort from DreamWorks Animation isn't exactly one of the greatest animated movies I've ever seen, but it still has its charm, that's for sure, and I can see why it was so successful. I was a teenager (fifteen years old) when I first saw it, not long after it was first released on video, so I obviously don't know what it's like to see it as a kid. However, it seems the movie has been enjoyed by kids and adults alike, so I guess it's one of those movies. Many people have seen "Shrek" in the past seven years, and it seems it hasn't been forgotten, not that it deserves to be. If you still haven't seen it, but a rather humorous, clever, well-written animated feature, parodying numerous fairy tales, sounds like something that's right up your alley, and you don't mind a bit of crudeness and toilet humour, then I see no reason why you shouldn't watch "Shrek" the next time you get the chance, since it hasn't failed to please most people who have seen it, it seems.