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"I liked Shrek but I didn’t love Shrek."
 

SHREK
Rated PG
Directors: Andrew Adamson, Victoria Jenson.
Screenwriters: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Roger Schulman, Joe Stillman.
Voice Cast: Mike Myers (Shrek), Eddie Murphy (The Donkey), Cameron Diaz (Princess Fiona), John Lithgow (Lord Farquaad).
Running Time: 89 minutes
Released: June 16, 2001
 
ALTERNATE REALITY Review by Lawrence Evans
HIS RATING: RECOMMENDED (*** stars)
 
What we have here is an evil king, a troll who likes his privacy, a talking donkey who won’t shut up and a princess who wants to be rescued but only if the rules are followed. Combine these elements with portions of fairy tales once told by Disney and you get the highly successful Shrek.

The film basically takes a simple fairy tale and endows it with a modern day sensibility. The creators make the animatronics self aware; the Diaz character isn’t really being held hostage by the dragon she’s just waiting there until her champion arrives. Shrek doesn’t want to save her; he just wants the fairy creatures out of his swamp so he can be left alone. The donkey is just looking for somewhere to belong and the king just wants to control everything.

I found the Disney bashing the funniest part of the film and the ‘curse’ on Diaz’s character the weakest part. The moment we learn of her plight we know how the film is going to end. As an adult making fun of Snow White, the Gingerbread Man and pro wrestling is cool but most of the jokes involving those things will probably be over the heads of any kid under the age of ten. I was also somewhat unimpressed by the animation; the Final Fantasy trailer seemed to be using technology light years ahead of Shrek.

I liked Shrek but I didn’t love Shrek. It seemed to be trying to hard to be cool at times and being cool is a natural thing. 

A SECOND OPINION...
SHREK (****)
Total entertainment. This Dreamwork's cgi effort gives Pixar and their "Toy Story" a run for their money. A distinct 3-D world populated by fairy tale characters with a sly edge. Laugh-out-loud funny. The year's best film.
-Jim Rutkowski

 

SHREK © 2001 Dreamworks Pictures.
All Rights Reserved.

Review © 2003 Alternate Reality, Inc.

 

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