Shrek

Starring the voice talents of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow and Eddie Murphy. Written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, Roger S.H. Schulman and Chris Miller from the novel by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jensen.

More and more I am enjoying CG Animated Films, and if more films like Shrek are made, then I’m sure I will continue to enjoy them. I’ve always been an advocate for standard pen and ink animation, but between the fantastic special effects in Titan A.E. to the two Toy Story films and Antz and A Bug’s Life, and of course the upcoming Final Fantasy, CG has come a long way since the special effects in The Last Starfighter and Tron. What’s interesting here, is that the CG doesn’t really distract from the overall, and it also isn’t a "wow, look at that" kind of thing. It’s there, but it doesn’t distinguish itself, and perhaps that is the film’s greatest achievement. Well either that, or Mike Myers great Scottish accent.

The story, such as it is, focuses on the eponymous Green Ogre voiced by Myers, and his classic quest to…err…rid his beloved swamp of other fairy-tale creatures. Yup, that’s it. See Shrek is a lonely Ogre, who is beloved by none and likes it that way. Suddenly into his life comes a bunch of fairy-tale story refugees, including Pinocchio, the Three Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, you get the drift. See they were all banished by Lord Farquad (John Lithgow) in order to make his kingdom a perfect place. If Farquad’s castle seems just a LITTLE familiar to the viewers, it’s because it is supposed to be Disneyland, a joke which is completely obvious, but nonetheless, incredibly funny. Farquad soon captures the Magic Mirror from Snow White, who tells him the final task that he needs to undertake is to marry a Princess, thereby becoming King, and his kingdom will be perfect. Farquad has his choice of princesses, and he chooses Fiona, who has been placed under a curse that can only be lifted with a kiss from her true love, oh, and she’s stuck in a castle that is built in a volcano, and is guarded by a huge dragon. Simple task for a man such as Farquad.

But Farquad is only three feet tall (with a HUGE freakin’ head, which reminds me of Mike Myer’s great lines in the vastly underrated So I Married an Axe Murderer). So, he decides to send someone else, the someone ends up being Shrek. So Shrek, followed bravely and trustily by his newly won sidekick, Donkey (Eddie Murphy), goes in search of the dragon and to rescue Fiona.

Enough plot details, it’s a fairy tale with a happy ending, what more do you need to know?

Originally when I heard about this film, I thought that it probably would suck, heck when I saw the previews I thought that it would probably suck. Guess what? It doesn’t suck, in fact, it’s quite good. It’s extremely witty, with great sight gags, and fall-down laughing lines. Even Eddie Murphy is hilarious, though at times I felt he should have been restrained. The star here, though, is Myers, who hasn’t been funnier, but a tad bit restrained. Maybe they should have let Myers go nuts, and reigned in Murphy. Oh well, doesn’t matter, in the end, it’s still a fun piece of fluff, just the thing I needed to get my summer movie watching season underway. Soon I’ll be reviewing Pearl Harbor, The Mummy Returns, and Moulin Rouge. Oh and that little ape movie, that too.

I guess I should also point out that this film is based on a cult-classic Children’s Book, that I haven’t read. Um, and McFarlane Toys has a buttload of action figures and other cool toys out. I might even buy some, ‘cause there isn’t anything cooler than a little 3 inch tall ginger-bread man action figure on crutches. See the movie, you’ll know what I mean.

My rating: **** out of 5.