Basically disappointed.

Rating: 5/10 (21 June 2001)

I didn't like this movie.
First of all, the storyline didn't make sense. In the beginning of the movie, Lord Farquaad was paying for the Fairy Tale creatures. When they were all in the swamp the next day, they were saying they were evicted. Then, Farquaad was interrogating the Gingerbread Man regarding the whereabouts of the creatures. Shrek doesn't want them in his swamp, and so Farquaad offers to clear the swamp if Shrek rescues Princess Fiona. What is the deal with this? Does Farquaad want these creatures or not?

I never once laughed out loud. Every review I have read likens the comedy to some ground-breaking phenomenon. I found it to be simply about fart jokes and obvious innuendo. One of the funnier jokes regarding the size of Farquaad's castle is even repeated later in the movie - as if we missed it the first time?
The character development is weak. The only redeeming main character is Eddie Murphy's Donkey. He was fresh and funny and entertaining. The Gingerbread Man, unfortunately a small part, was also quite funny. The rest made me long for the end of the movie.
The storyline is a vague string of isolated scenes, resulting in a myriad of continuity problems.
The animation is fantastic. That is the only part of the movie that I enjoyed. For that, I'll give it 3 stars out of 10.