A Clever, Creative & Comical Delight For Viewers Of All Ages

Rating: Null/10 (27 March 2018)

Establishing DreamWorks Animation as the first real competitor to Pixar Animation Studios, Shrek is a clever, creative & comical delight that finds its creators firing on all cylinders and is a wonderfully animated & endlessly entertaining tale that works for viewers of all ages.
The story follows an ogre whose peaceful life in the swamp is disrupted when many magical creatures show up at his place. To drive them out, he strikes a deal with an evil lord for whom he must rescue a princess & bring her to him in exchange for his land, and is joined by a talking donkey on his quest.
Directed by Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson, Shrek comes jam-packed with gags & parodies, all incorporated into a storyline that's simple in structure, easy to follow, and features elements that are more targeted at grown-ups, thus succeeding as an adventure that has something in store for all demographics.
All the set pieces & characters are cleverly imagined, expertly designed & skilfully rendered. The relevant characters exhibit sufficient depth and are easy to relate to. Voice actors bring their A-game to infuse life & soul into these animated caricatures, with Eddie Murphy effortlessly winning hearts & stealing the show as Donkey.
On an overall scale, Shrek is an end-product of clever imagination, intelligent writing & top-notch animation and though the latter aspect appears slightly dated today, the story hasn't lost much of its magical charm & hilarious wit. Taking a dig at Disney & proving its animation studio to be a worthy challenger to Pixar, Shrek is still one of DreamWorks Animation's finest films to date.