Review of Shrek (2001) by Kai82 — 17 Nov 2020

This was Disney's nightmare. A movie that makes fun of all their tropes and staples while being also good enough to stand toe to toe with the best animated movies of all times. It was a huge financial success, had high acclaim of fans / critics and started a successful franchise.

The humor is the greatest strength of the movie. Nothing is safe or sacred. Be it fairy tales, Disney movies, tropes or stereotypes. They used a lot of care and thoughts to create well written jokes. Many other parodies and spoof movies failed with flat jokes or a quantity over quality approach.

Also they chose some of the best voice actors they could use. Mike Myers as Shrek, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona and John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad. All together give an amazing performance and I think it is a benchmark for animated movies.

Then there is the story with an unusual hero. Shrek is a green ogre and loves the solitude of his swap. He tries to scare away all intruders to be not further disturbed by angry villagers or knights that want to defeat monsters to prove them-self.

Meanwhile Lord Farquaad wants to get rid of all fairy-tale creatures / magic beings and exiles them to Shreks swamp. Shrek is now on his journey to get them out of his swap (with their full moral support as they want not to be exiled there).

So starts one of the most entertaining journeys in animated movies and a constant attack on your risible muscles. The animations were also pretty impressive back then. They used computer animations to great potential and we were amazed back then how good it looked.

Later I read it was the most elaborate animated movie of all times back then. It is always amazing how technology improved. I think I have said all that is needed. Overall this was a remarkable movie and a must see.

I think it deserved to be called a movie that earned its place in animated history.