Review of Shrek (2001) by Erik G — 05 Jun 2012

This was one of the first animated I remember seeing AND really enjoying as an adult, and I do still hold it in high regard. To this day, I count it as one of the best animated movies out there.

Reasons aren't hard to come by, an absolutely mind-blowing cast who is perfectly casted for their respective roles in the movie. The whole premise of parodying the world and all the clichés of fairy tales, while at the same time being one is ingenious. It pulls this of while at the same time being entertaining, both with regards to its own narrative and to the jokes in there. Even though I have seen it well over five times by now, I find myself still laughing hard at the majority of the jokes.

In some contrast to movies of it kind, the plot succeeds in being both heartwarming, hilarious, meta and immersive at the same time. The movie is a comedy/parody at its core and never takes itself too serious, but when it does, the message and timing feels warranted and well interwoven with the rest of the narrative.

Animation is still all right, even though you can tell by today's standards (or earlier than that even, this is no Finding Nemo in that regard) that it has aged quite a bit. However, the story, the voice acting (especially Eddy Murphy) and the soundtrack will have this movie standing its ground for many years to come still.