WINK WINK NUDGE NUDGE

A Video Review of "Shrek"

Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker

Remember the old Warner Brothers cartoons? When you were a kid you'd laugh at the antics of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig and then as an adult you'd laugh for wholly different reasons. They worked on two different levels. This is what Shrek is like.

Shrek was one of the first projects from DreamWorks which included the former CEO of Disney. This might be the reason for all the shots at Disney classics in this flick. The whole film is one big nasty twist on fairy tales, Disney’s stock in trade. For any hardcore Disney fans the in-jokes will either piss you off or be utterly hilarious. You decide.

This story of an ogre blackmailed into rescuing and delivering a princess to a corrupt ruler is nearly secondary to the touching love story. It’s all quite unbelievable when you consider none of it is real. I’ve seen more than my share of animation, computer or not, and it’s rare that you can care for the characters. Hell, it’s rare in regular movies.

The voice cast is excellent against all odds. Michael Myers’ ‘humor’ runs hot and cold with me and here using his Fat Bastard/ Scotch Tape store Scottish voice he’s actually entertaining. John Lithgow who I haven’t liked since he took on comedy is also good. Speaking of comedy I have to say Eddie Murphy is funnier as a computer animated donkey that he’s been in real life for over a decade.

I really enjoyed Shrek and was looking forward to the sequel. It's a shame that from all indications Shrek 2 is going to be a rift on the horrible Meet the Parents. Regardless Shrek is a classic.