Shrek

Rating:
Summary: Shrek
Review: Wow!!! What a GREAT movie. Very funny through and through. The jokes and gags never stop coming and rarely do you even see them coming! Wonderful twists and turns and just a darn good time for all. An echanting treat for all ages. If you haven't seen it yet, RUN to see it. If you have seen it, grab some friends and RUN to see it again. Whatever you do, don't let the summer go by without experiencing "Shrek"!

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Summary: Technological Wizardry!
Review: I know all aspects of the great story and comedy has already been covered by the 78 reviews written before me. I had read the the Wall Street Journal article on how Linux was used for achieving frame rates 10 times faster than what used to be possible on a Windows or SGI based workstations. As a programmer I really wanted to see the difference it made.

The verdict? Its astounding!! Everything from shadows to textures is captured like never before. If you thought Bugs Life is as good as it gets, go watch this. After seeing the results SKG Productions has gotten through Linux, Pixar (makers of Bugs Life et al) is also in the process of ditching Windows for Linux :-)

Get this on DVD. The joy you'll get is worth every penny you pay for it.

Rating:
Summary: Shrek - good story, great effects, dumb humor
Review: An imaginative tale has been given a surprisingly unimaginative treatment-- recycled bathroom humor, an uninspired musical underscore, and old top 40 tunes detract from an otherwise enjoyable family treat. Shrek is a "nothing is what it seems at first" kind of tale, with lots of delightful shredding of fairytale characters and conventions, so it may be worth the ticket price for that in spite of the director's failings. It's fine if you have kids along, otherwise you'll want to rent this one. 3.5 stars.

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Summary: Surprisingly refreshing movie
Review: I was pleasantly surprised by this slightly irreverent but wonderingfully endearing fairy tale. Myers, Murphy, Diaz, and Lithgow all had me howling in laughter! I think I embarrassed some of the kids in the theater. *grin* The soundtrack is so good, my wife and I went straight from the movie to buy it!

Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: In this visually awesome movie, we visit the Fairy Tale world of Shrek, Princess Fiona, Donkey (played brilliantly by Eddie Murphy), and the diminutive Lord Farquad. I thought when I sat down in the crowded theater that, as it so often is, the hype for this movie was probably fabricated by the film industry, and the "Shrek-obsession" that people claimed to have was simply due to the superb graphics. I assumed that the story line would be nothing but toilet humor.

I WAS WRONG!

This movie is wonderfully witty and absolutely, 100% entertaining. Yes, the plot is unoriginal, but that's okay! The reason it's unoriginal is because of the fact that it's been used so many times. Why has it been used so many times? Well, it works.

I strongly advise young and old to come and see this divine Fairy Tale farce.

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Summary: outstanding
Review: I agree with everything christopher fung said. (See his earlier review.)

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Summary: One word: BWAHAHHAHAAHHAH!
Review: That pretty much sums up "Shrek." It has one purpose--to make you laugh. And it accomplishes it, easily.

I saw it the day after it opened. The audience was very diverse; all races of all ages, and everyone in the audience enjoyed it. In particular, when the "Matrix" parody began every single person in the theater burst into huge fits of laughter, myself included.

Everyone in the cast did a great job voicing, but Eddie Murphy, with his talking-nonstop Donkey, and John Lithgow, with his deliciously evil Lord Farquaad, really stole the show.

C'mon. You *know* an animated film is good when a male teenage college student recommends it.

Rating:
Summary: One star for excellent animation!
Review: Excellent animation. As for the story? Blech. Just another movie brainwashing little girls into believing they need to look past the ugliness in their counterparts while stretching the imagination of boys to believe they can have the beautiful princess. ... Anyway, other than that, the movie has great voices and good animation.

Rating:
Summary: Shrek Review
Review: Zhrek was a great movie Mike Myers and Eddie Muphy where fantastic! This Movie should get some Oscars.

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Summary: 2 Cone-Shaped Ear-Like Appendages UP!
Review: I'll be honest; I've been waiting for this movie since I saw the very first trailer back in November. I didn't need to see much to make me enthused: fully CGI-rendered movie; fantasy world setting; and voiced by Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, John Lithgow, and Cameron Diaz. I knew just from that short preview that I'd be laughing my patookus off!

So I've been doing my best to avoid the marketing blitz, since it started in earnest 3 months ago. I didn't want all the good lines ingrained in my brain before I'd even seen the film. Oh, I still shopped at Ralphs, and got (free) ice cream at 31 Flavors, but I wanted to let the film unfold all by itself. I was mostly successful in avoiding the DreamWorks marketing machine, so the movie was able to speak for itself.

And I didn't leave the theater disappointed!

Shrek is a very funny movie, which turns every storybook convention on its ear (or cone-shaped ear-like appendage). Starting out with its protagonist: Shrek (voiced by a Meyers in a decidedly NON-obnoxious Scottish brogue) is large, green, and has terrible hygiene. But that's normal for an ogre. He goes about his daily routine of bathing in filth, sprucing up the land around his swamp-home, and frightening away those pesky torch-bearing humans that come to hunt him down.

It seems that Lord Farquaad (fiendishly portrayed by Lithgow), has got a Napoleon complex and wants his land of Dulac to be the happiest place on earth. A few things getting in the way of his plan are that he's not actually a king, and the presence of all those darn pixies, dwarves, and talking animals. The Magic Mirror he's captured directs his attention to the fair Princess Fiona, whom he plans to marry, in order to attain king-hood. He has also decreed that all fairy-tale creatures in the land are to be rounded up and sent to "relocation camps" so that his domain will be "perfect."

Murphy plays a talking Donkey, in a role eerily similar to Mu Shu from Disney's Mulan, but funnier. He manages to avoid capture by Farquaad's men, with some help from Shrek, a decision Shrek immediately regrets when the Donkey follows him home, and shows just why the Donkey was turned in to the authorities in the first place (he just can't stop talking). Shrek soon learns that the Donkey is the least of his problems when all the relocated fairy-folk have been dropped at his front door. In order to gain some peace, and get back to his solitary existence, Shrek decides to pay a visit to this Lord Farquaad to demand that the fairy-folk be re-relocated OFF his land. Lord Farquaad decides that Shrek shall become his "champion" to free Princess Fiona from her prison (tall tower, fire-breathing dragon, enchantments, the usual), and return her to the kingdom, so that Lord Farquaad can marry her, and become a king. In return, Shrek shall get his home back.

And so begins a wonderful fairy tale! Like all great family films, Shrek works on many levels. There is plenty of toilet humor and physical comedy for the wee lads and lasses; lots of references to classic tales that 'tweens will instantly understand, action for your adolescents, and satire for the parents (what? No one else noticed the digs at that OTHER movie studio... the one that owns the theme park?). The film does have a PG rating, mostly for the raunchiness of some of its humor and language (though you can't expect a movie with a donkey as one of its main characters NOT to use the word "ass," can you?). The jokes that could be the most offensive will be lost on the young ones, anyway, since the filmmakers take great delight in hinting at its crudeness, rather than explicitly stating it (perhaps they're, heh heh..."compensating" for something, eh?).

There is a moral, naturally. And there is True Love. The film always stays true to its roots as a fairy tale. I'll let you figure out what the moral is (so as not to ruin the ending), but suffice to say that it is an important thing for kids to learn. It's probably not the first time that we've seen it, but it is better realized than I have seen it before. Don't get me wrong, the film isn't preachy; there is plenty of action. Princess Fiona shows off some moves she taught herself while in captivity (apparently she had a DVD player, with The Matrix handy). They even manage to do the old "out-running-the-fireball" gag. Surprisingly, I didn't mind so much this time around (and I HATE that bit).

On technical grounds, Shrek is amazing. The computer graphics were so natural looking, as to be ignored (so I could focus on the characters and story). Now THAT is a testament to the skill of the filmmakers! The crew of Shrek is the same crew that worked on Antz, and they took the facial animations up another notch, by giving their humans realistic features. The characters' faces are so well animated that emotions are made possible by subtle facial changes. Combined with the excellent voice acting of the cast, the characters become 3-dimensional in emotion, as well as space. The filmmakers prove that Shrek is about more than just flashy eye-candy (as if The Iron Giant hadn't already taught us a CGI character can move us to tears). The soundtrack to Shrek is made up of an eclectic mix of contemporary hits, from Smashmouth to The Proclaimers to Rufus Wainwright. Unlike A Knight's Tale, however, the anachronistic music works, since the animation style already breaks us out of "reality." Instead the music is simply used to fit the mood of the scene. Eddie Murphy's constant chatter, too, is full of modern references, and this may end up dating Shrek before it can become a "classic." The fairy tale references, of course, should remain timeless.

This film has a lot of charm, and it made me laugh consistently. It proves that a film that relies on technology can only succeed if it has a heart to support it. So please, take time out to see the ogre who is deeper than he lets on ("like an ONION!"), the princess who is more than she seems, the noble who tries to be more than he is, and the donkey... who always lets you know how he's doing.