Shrek Reviews
Shrek review
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 29 December 2017 09:110 comments, Reply to this entry
Shrek review
Posted : 6 years, 6 months ago on 28 October 2017 05:350 comments, Reply to this entry
A good movie
Posted : 9 years, 1 month ago on 23 March 2015 10:54P.S: after all these years, I have never noticed it before but Princess Fiona actually really looks like Ellen Pompeo.
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Review of Shrek
Posted : 10 years, 7 months ago on 17 September 2013 09:26Shrek is sort of a parody to the classic Disney films, and various fairy-tales. Shrek, an ogre, has his swamp suddenly populated with fairy-tale characters. Furious, Shrek complains to the person responsible- the villainous Lord Farquaad- and demands to have his swamp back to the way it was. Lord Farquaad offers to give Shrek his swamp back, but only if he saves Princess Fiona from a tower guarded by a dragon, and brings Fiona back to his castle. This is so that Farquaad can marry Fiona and become king. Shrek agrees, and so he embarks on this quest, along with a talking donkey named...Donkey.
Shrek isn't funny enough, nor emotionally satisfying enough to compete with even the lesser efforts of Pixar or Disney. The humor is rarely very funny, as much of it appeals to a much younger audience than what we're led to believe by its much stronger parody elements. And sadly enough, these bits of parody humor are only evident in the first half of the film. After that, Shrek is your run-of-the-mill children's flick. Ironically, Shrek ultimately becomes the very thing it's poking fun at, except immensely watered down.
Had the film focused more on its parody humor, and less on its generic romance story, Shrek could've been a reasonably good time. But alas, Shrek decides to abandon one of its only working components in the second half of the film, resulting in a largely uninteresting 90 minute trudge that feels much longer than an hour and a half.
While a number of the fairy-tale oriented characters are pretty funny, the main three characters that the film chooses to focus on (Shrek, Donkey and Princess Fiona), are an absolute bore, if not completely unlikable. Shrek is an uninteresting character (and his grumpy nature makes him extremely unlikable at times), and Donkey is rarely funny, and is more often obnoxious. Fiona is a cardboard cut-out of the "girl-that-fights-for-herself-and-has-an-attitude" that we've all seen far too many times to care much about.
The more interesting characters, like Gingy (the Ginger-Bread Man), the three blind mice, and the three little pigs, get little more than a line or two in their measly roles. They're funny when they're onscreen, but they get, perhaps, a minute and a half total of screen time. The fairy-tale creature with the most screen time is the Magic Mirror of Snow White fame, though even his role his relatively small.
Mike Meyers as Shrek is instantly forgettable, and is accompanied by a half-hearted Scottish accent. Eddie Murphy is easily the best of the voice talents, providing energy and excitement to the character, even with less than engaging material. Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow are forgettable in their roles, and don't make any kind of lasting impression.
The animation, while not quite up to today's standards, still holds up pretty well. The character designs are nothing to write home about, and the humans are a little clunky, but the environments look pretty good, and there are some relatively impressive sequences.
The score, composed by dynamite duo Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell, is very good at times, especially when utilizing the heroic main theme. But when the soundtrack kicks in, utilizing dated pop and rock songs that feel completely out of place in the film, Shrek begins to feel more and more like a mere product as opposed to a film.
While it's not unwatchable, Shrek lacks the laughs and the heart to compete with Disney or Pixar. The parody elements are used far too little, and the the bland characters and predictable plot that the film chooses to focus on will likely bore older audiences. There are brief moments of inspiration and clever humor, but they don't come nearly often enough to make up for the tired and helplessly blah story it encompasses.
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Shrek review
Posted : 11 years, 10 months ago on 13 June 2012 11:580 comments, Reply to this entry
Excellent animation effort
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 21 June 2010 03:31
Once Pixar Studios released 1995's Toy Story (the first entirely computer-animated feature film in history) the reality of producing CG animated films was realised, and it wasn't long before studios outside of Pixar began making forays into the new genre. DreamWorks has always been a strong contender for Pixar's crown, and among their first endeavours was 2001's Shrek (Antz was their debut). Essentially a fairytale given a contemporary spin with modern humour and hit pop music, Shrek is an excellent animation effort packed with a number of winning elements: an involving narrative, a visually stunning world, a handful of moral lessons, and an enormous handful of laughs. There are sight gags and fart jokes to entertain the younger demographic, while there are several masterfully implemented witticisms for an older audience to enjoy. Shrek is not just a film for the kids - it appeals to anyone of any age group.
Shrek predominantly plays out like the fairy tales it spoofs. Set in the faraway land known as Duloc, Shrek (Mike Myers) lives a comfortable, simplistic life in his beloved swamp, and adores his privacy. Meanwhile, Duloc's heartless ruler Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) rounds up all the fantastical creatures in his kingdom, evicts them, and forces them to relocate to Shrek's swamp. Peeved by the intrusion on his personal space, Shrek sets off to pay Farquaad a visit. In tow is a motor-mouth donkey known as Donkey (Eddie Murphy). Shrek and Farquaad strike a deal: in return for getting back his swamp, Shrek will undertake a quest to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from the tower where she is held prisoner. See, Farquaad needs to marry a princess in order for him to become king, but is too afraid to rescue Fiona from the fire-breathing dragon himself.
Co-directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, Shrek works so deviously well due to the way it completely desecrates and subverts the traditional Disney approach. It's a full-scale parody of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, while everything in between gets caught up in a fusillade of affectionate piss-takes. Nothing is sacred in the world of fairytales, with bluebirds exploding before our eyes, and frogs and snakes being blown up to make balloons. Fart jokes are present for tots, while there are WWE-style bouts and Matrix-inspired fights to appease the teens, and Eddie Murphy's hysterical Donkey provides a stream of witty dialogue intended for the grown-ups. Simply put, Murphy hasn't scraped these comedic heights for years. Sure, the film is at times too juvenile and it lacks the maturity of Pixar's efforts, but in the end the film is a total blast, and it's easy to recognise that the juvenile elements are all in good fun.
In terms of computer-generated animation techniques, Shrek raised the bar once again - and the bar was already at an impressively high level after Toy Story 2. The movie boasts impressive detail in the almost photorealistic backgrounds, as well as amazingly rendered creatures. The texturing on Donkey alone is incredible - his fur is so meticulously detailed that it looks as if you could reach out and feel the animal's softness. Although the human beings are not entirely lifelike, the technique has markedly improved since Toy Story. In fact, this is the first major computer-animated feature in which humans serve a significant role in the proceedings, and you should have no trouble accepting them as humans. (Antz and Dinosaur had no human characters, while humans played secondary parts in the two Toy Story movies.)
With computer animation becoming a prevalent medium, it's vital to select the right voices for the characters. Voices do define each role, after all, and a bad choice could trigger irreparable damage. Fortunately, Shrek features four capable stars in the lead roles. First and foremost is Mike Myers, who is a vocal chameleon. In the titular role, Myers is terrific; espousing a Scottish brogue that's gruffly lovable. Myers is often upstaged by Eddie Murphy, whose distinctive voice has always been one of his strongest features as a comedian. As proved by Mulan and now Shrek, Murphy is born for these animated roles. The energetic, eager-to-please, loud-mouthed Donkey is one of the funniest characters Murphy has brought to the screen, and his consistently funny remarks are what viewers will likely remember the most about the movie. Meanwhile, Cameron Diaz is a terrific Princess Fiona, and John Lithgow is a memorable villain.
If Shrek is marred by any problems, they lie in the story's resolution. For the first 75 minutes of its runtime the film lampoons fairytales, yet on the home stretch it succumbs to a cookie-cutter fairytale ending. It's a satisfying resolution, sure, but it's nonetheless highly ironic. Thankfully, the movie then closes with a musical number which has Donkey performing his rendition of I'm a Believer, and you'll be almost willing to forgive the conventions. When all's said and done, Shrek is sharp, funny, and engaging on both an emotional and technical level. It's not a guilty pleasure for sophisticated movie-goers; it's purely and simply a pleasure which can be enjoyed by anyone of any age. Unsurprisingly, the film's $485 million box office performance (from a $60 million budget) led to three sequels, beginning with Shrek 2 in 2004.
8.3/10
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Absolutely hilarious! Gotta love Shrek and Donkey!
Posted : 14 years, 5 months ago on 9 December 2009 01:57Mike Myers delivers an absolutely awesome voice acting performance as Shrek. Mikes voice is simply perfect for Shrek because the type of character that Shrek is fits perfectly with Mike Myers Scottish accent. The voice that Mike uses in Shrek is the exact same voice as Fat Bastard in the Austin Powers trilogy. His voice as Shrek is both hilarious and heartwarming too which makes Shrek one of the most friendly and lovely characters that has ever been put to the screen. Eddie Murphys voice as Donkey is absolutely awesome too. Murphy has that sort of croaking and typical American accent which unusually fits absolutely perfectly for Donkey. His acting was superb. Cameron Diaz was good as Princess Fiona. I wish that there was a better actress for the voice of Fiona. She was still good though. I liked John Lithgow too as Lord Farquaad even though there werent that many scenes involving Farquaad. All four speak very differently. Not because of different actors but because they all try different sorts of accents.
The directional debut of Andrew Adamson was absolutely outstanding. He directed this film really well. He has done four really good films as director so far. Others like Shrek 2, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion And The Wardrobe and The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The written screenplay in Shrek was absolutely outstanding. It was really clever and all of the lines in the certain scenes were absolutely perfect indeed.
This film along with Toy Story and Spirited Away set a whole new level of animation because they are very different and unusual and sometimes teaches us all about things in life. This film is my favourite Andrew Adamson film. For me, he has not done one bad film yet. This one is the best of the trilogy. The second one is awesome too but the third one is crap. I was extremely disappointed in Shrek The Third because of its lame story. This film didnt disappoint me at all. This film has become one of my favourite animated films of all time. It is one of the most pleasureable, inspiring and most delightful family films of all time. Shrek is a masterpiece of animation and deserves its rightful place there.
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"Ogres are like onions." -Instant classi
Posted : 16 years, 8 months ago on 14 August 2007 07:39The main character is Shrek, a rude and crude Ogre, who simply wants to live alone in peace, until he meets his soon to be friend, Donkey, a talking donkey. The two instantly become friends, at least in Donkey's eyes, and become inseparable. Then one night, Shrek discovers that hundreds of "fairy tale creatures" have moved into his swamp in order to escape the evil Lord Farquaad's decree against all magical beings. Shrek sets out to find Farquaad and get his swamp back, only to be sent on yet another journey to rescue one spunky Princess Fiona. But soon, Shrek begins to fall in love with the feisty princess. It's a love story completely in it's own league.
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Shrek is instantly a classic. The main character, Shrek, is a very gruff, mean looking character, but does have a soft spot, though he argues differently. Mike Meyers portrays this character Donkey, the supporting role, is the comic relief for the movie, and an excellent job at it. Eddi Murphy brings the entire movie to life with this character. Fiona is voiced by Cameron Diaz, who also does a fantastic job.
The plot is very original. It's nothing like any fairy tale you've heard before. The romance adds a nice twist, making you wonder if the good guy might actually get the girl in the end.
The dialog is very good; funny too. Unfortunately, there are far too many "ass" jokes with Donkey than I'd prefer there to be. Still, it's one of the funniest movies I can think of.
The music is fantastic, one of the best sountracks I own. Smashmouth does two numbers which are amazing. Very good.
The animation is good, period.
Overall, this movie is one of the best CGI movies out there right now. Instantly a classic. Highly recommended.
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