Shrek (2001) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Fairy tales have grown to be formulaic because by the time we got to the 2000s, audiences took notice of all the tropes and cliches they were known for, especially from Walt Disney produced classics. With that in mind, it would be a challenge to bring back fresh air. However, Dreamworks caught us off guard with their computer animated film Shrek.

PLOT

Based on the 1990 book by William Steig, the 2001 film follows the titular ogre who lives in a swamp and prefers the solitude he gets it whenever scaring off human villagers. His life goes through a drastic change when Lord Farquaad of Duloc exiles hundreds of fairy tale creatures that inadvertently end up on his swamp. Refusing to put up with the intrusion, he decides to go to Duloc personally to have them moved elsewhere. A talking donkey who takes a liking to him goes with him since he knew where to go. Upon arrival, Shrek inadvertently puts himself in a tournament to fulfill a quest, in which he wins. He is given the task to rescue the damsel Princess Fiona who is held captive by a fire breathing dragon. If Farquaad marries a princess, he will officially be king. The ogre only agrees to do it as long as he gets the swamp back to solely being his. With Donkey continuing to be his travel companion, the two make it to the castle where the dragon and the princess are. The beast attacks as predicted and unintentionally takes Shrek to Fiona, whereas she quickly gets romantically interested in Donkey. Once Shrek frees the princess from the tower, he rescues Donkey from the dragon and all three escape the castle. Fiona quickly becomes difficult for Shrek to deal with since she gets appalled of his lack of romanticism and refuses to go to Duloc without Farquaad rescuing her personally. This leads to Shrek taking her against her will, but this would lead to them stopping for her to privately sleep in a cave. During their first night to camp, Shrek confesses to Donkey of his frustration being constantly rejected and feared by others over his appearance, thus wanting to build a wall over his swamp. Since Fiona overhears this, she chooses to be kind to him for the rest of the trip. So by morning, she starts with making breakfast for him and Donkey, as well as defend her and themselves from a harassing Robin Hood & group of Merry Men. Becoming impressed of being different than expected, Shrek starts falling for her. When they're closer to Duloc, they choose to take shelter in a windmill nearby for their last evening toghether. Donkey notices the intimate tension between the two, but Shrek denies it due to how different they are. As the night on, Donkey discovers that Fiona is cursed to be an ogre every sunset and the curse can only be broken via true love's kiss. When Shrek plans to tell her how he feels, he misinterprets that she called him an ugly beast. The heartbreak would lead to him returning with Farquaad. When the princess meets the lord for the first time, she requests to be married before the next sunset. Shrek does get a deed to his swamp but despite having it as vacated as he originally wanted, he begins to feel miserable without Fiona. Donkey would return and tell him to make things right since she actually referred to someone else as an ugly beast. With the help of the Dragon as transportation, due to Donkey befriending her, they make it to Duloc in time to stop the wedding. When Shrek admits how he feels, it inspires the princess to reveal her ogre self by sunset. Predictably disgusted, Farquaad orders for Shrek to be executed and Fiona to be detained. That gets stopped when Dragon devours him. Shrek & Fiona would then take the opportunity to profess their love with their first kiss. The curse would be broken and Fiona permanently be an ogre. Although this was against her expectations, Shrek reminds her she is beautiful to him. The film would end with both ogres having their happily ever after by marrying in the swamp and heading for their honeymoon.

THOUGHTS

Overall, I do enjoy movies that can thrill me. That has been pulled off excessively thanks to horror films and various blockbusters. But every now and then, I like a movie that is generally fun to see. This film gets the job done in doing that. You already know you’re in for something different when ‘All Star’ by Smash Mouth starts playing. Directors Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson were able to expand upon the material from the book and make it their own to make it feel original. Since this is mostly a comedy, the best jokes go to how they’re aimed at making fun of Walt Disney as a whole. I never noticed it as a kid, but catching on to it as an adult made it better. I mean Geppetto sold Pinocchio for five schillings? That is really cold. But I was losing my voice when seeing a guy with a giant Farquaad head and a Duloc jingle straight up be a reference towards Disneyland. And in all honesty, it felt like I was seeing a jab at Medieval Times when Shrek beat up the knights. Cue cards at a wedding and Robin Hood being an asshole of a womanizer are jokes I didn’t think I’d enjoy. And hey, it was cute for the Gingerbread Man to quote the end of A Christmas Carol as the film was wrapping up. Even the other fairy tale cameos were a treat. Like seeing Shrek quickly have a hard time with the three blind mice, the seven dwarfs and the big bad wolf was so chaotic I love it for being that. Now apart from all the comedy that comes our way, this movie has held up better than other Dreamworks animated films that came afterwards because it was at its boldest when spreading the message of acceptance. The world we live in is known for the unnecessary criticism we give towards each other. And that is why it is important to take the time to know people before you choose to judge immediately. If you do this, there is a chance you can make a new special relationship with someone without knowing it. Each and every one of us that have lived our lives are known for being different and the people that care about you the most will not care on how different you are. That said message would not have been possible had we not followed the shoes worn by the big green himself. Voiced by Mike Myers, Shrek is a character who wants to leave peacefully and originally chose to act surly in return to those who never gave him a chance. That’s where the comedy can come along because he can do without even trying. But with the constant discrimination he was dealing with for the majority of his life, he never thought he’d share happiness with someone else. Little would he expect that he would meet people who would come around and accept who he is and ignore what was considered a flaw by others. Eddie Murphy’s Donkey was definitely a highlight since we all admired how energetic he was deep down. He was a people person even though not many accepted him for being overly talkative. Shrek noticed that, but he came around looking past it because he knew how innocent he was. He was even willing to let him stay the night because he knows he likely wouldn’t last on his own. Despite putting up with rebuffs, Donkey chooses to be loyal to him throughout because he understands the ridicule. I don’t condone his relationship with the dragon because it’s too weird to digest, especially as the franchise progresses, but I understand the connection. Donkey clicks with her the way he does with Shrek, where they relate to being different. Thankfully had it not been for this relationship, Donkey would’ve not been able to help his friend get the girl, thus being an unsung hero as well. Since this story was gonna be different from last fairy tales, you had to expect the Princess to be the same and Fiona lived up to those expectations. Cameron Diaz made her stand out from the rest because despite being comfortable with the fairy tale tropes, she is deep down spunky and reserved in comparison. Seeing her kick Robin Hood’s ass with her set of martial arts skills proves she ain’t gonna put up with people that don’t respect her. With her circumstances, she relates to Shrek because of the hesitance to let people in. She knew how people like Farquaad would react and didn’t want to put up with it and luckily, Shrek was not like that. Both of them came around falling for each other because they saw their hearts they had all along and would never intend to hurt anybody. Hearing Smash Mouth’s “I’m a Believer” while they have their happily ever after is bittersweet because that shows that there is love for everyone and people just have to be patient to achieve it. Last but not least, since this was going to be a love story for the ages, you knew there had to be a villain that would be as impactful as past animated villains. So whenever you find yourself disgusted of Lord Farquaad, you know the job was done right. John Lithgow does a great job in portraying this character to be as despicable as you’d expect where all he cares about is power and using it however he pleases. He is willing to exile fairy tale creatures to prove he has the power to do it. He even made a rug out of Mama Bear for crying out loud, which is arguably the darkest thing to ever happen in Dreamworks’ animated history at that point. With his own set of loneliness, he acts so self absorbed that he thinks people will like him without thinking about it. He picked Fiona because she was the one that clearly got him aroused and was not going to stop doing whatever he had to until he got what he wanted. Arranged marriages may be a thing, but it’s better to know somebody before making drastic decision, which proves how blind he acted throughout. If he had an actual reign as king, there is no telling what he could’ve done and thankfully he was stopped before anything else could’ve happened. This film is as timeless as the animated films before it, but no matter how much fun I have rewatching it, I have grown to admit there were moments that don't make sense. Going from the top, does Shrek really need an outhouse? I feel like if he is an ogre living in a swamp, he should go wherever he'd want without consequence. And how is it possible for a slew of fairy tale creatures to be rounded up moments after seeing their bounties? I mean if those villagers pulled that off after failing to capture or Farquaad's men helped them do the dirty work. Either way, it's much more insane than the odds of Donkey bumping into Shrek just when he's posting another beware sign near the roundup. Then it gets pretty out of hand on how most of the fairy tale creatures made it to the swamp overnight without making a peep. I can give a pass to the blind mice, but everyone else does not. Shrek should've heard something and it's ridiculous that he doesn't. But the ridiculousness is really topped off when nobody in Duloc heard the dragon fly above the town. I did think it was funny for the Magic Mirror to have a Dating Game spoof to tell Farquaad which princess is available, but he messes up withholding him information that Fiona is cursed. I know we're supposed to be surprised later, but if that mirror really wanted to stick around without worry, he should've spilled the beans before a choice was made. I then wonder why was there still a bridge to the tower? I know in the sequel, Fiona's parents are waiting for Prince Charming, but that dragon should've destroyed it if she's tired of past knights trespassing. Moving on, Fiona has the right to be surprised of Shrek not slaying the dragon, but at the same time she shouldn't be when he crashed into her room by the creature. If she thought he slingshot himself, that'd be hilarious to know. You guys know I hate continuity errors, so consider me surprised when noticing blood was not on the arrow that shot Shrek once Fiona pulled it out. I then get upset when noticing no leaves were really near Donkey when he faints. There is no point in animating shit that ain't gonna be in the next shot. Other than that, this is still a fine film for what it is. In conclusion, Shrek earns the inaugural Best Animated Feature Oscar for shaking things up in such hilarious fashion, becoming one of the best of the genre in the process as well. You want a fairy tale that's straight up funny? This is the closest you'll get.