Movie Review: Shrek (2001)

by Idris Hsi - May 21, 2001

Drive-in help - J.D. Forinash, Serena Hsi

Shrek is a fairy tale movie done with the Disney formula by some very irreverent animators and storytellers. Amazingly enough, this succeeds in producing a very entertaining movie that does a decent job of entertaining all ages. Unfortunately, the plot is so thin that even telling you the characters and who played what gives a lot of the movie away and we don't do that sort of thing with our reviews unless the movie is dismally bad. But, nevertheless, there's a hero - an ogre named Shrek played by Mike Meyers doing a Scottish-like accent. There's a Donkey sidekick played by Eddie Murphy, reprising, more or less, his Mushu character from Mulan. There's a princess played by Cameron Diaz, reprising, more or less, her Natalie character from Charlie's Angels. And there's a villain played by John Lithgow, in the form of Lord Farquaad. Now try not to think too hard about this or you'll spoil the movie for yourself.

What makes this movie a lot of fun is its very clever use of visual gags and adult-oriented humor in the same vein as the old Warner Bros. cartoons and their descendants, the Animaniacs cartoons. I'm almost certain that the children in the audience didn't get the many in-jokes referring to Disney corporation behaviors or "short"-comings of a certain character but they did get the various bits of gross-out, kid-oriented stuff. The first two acts of the movie were hysterically funny. Unfortunately, once all the elements had been established and the basic story laid out, the movie plods towards its inevitable conclusion with a very mundane, been-there done-that ending. The saving grace might be that it still manages to poke a finger in Disney's eye at the end. I'm not sure why it lost steam like that but my guess is someone finally put their foot down, took away the kegs in the animator rooms, and said, "Get to the point."

I actually recommend that you see this movie, possibly not at full price and especially not at California full prices ($7 for students? ow!). It is visually well-done and has good pacing. The dialogue is extremely clever. This is a movie that kids and adults can appreciate equally - and those movies are rare these days. And, as long as you don't fall prey to the marketing, something the movie does poke fun at, Shrek is a harmless movie that seems to be concerned only with entertaining an audience - another oddity in the summer season. I give it a 7 on both the Good and Bad movie scales.

Our Drive-In Totals:

6.3 dead bodies
0 breasts
153 fairy tale cameos
2 balloon animals
Rat on a stick
Slug on a plate
Eye candy
Inferiority Complex
1 Refugee Camp
Magic Mirror Dating Game
1 onion analogy
14 satirical Disney references
1 Babe Reference
1 Highlander Reference
Interracial dating
The Wave
Ye Olde Misunderstood Conversation Plot Device
Ye Olde Rickety Bridge Over Pool of Lava
Ye Olde "True Beauty Lies Within" Take-Home B.S.
Cookie Torture Device
Six blind mice
Dwarf chain gang
Muffin Man alibi
Gratuitous ass-kissing
Gratuitous cat fight
Gratuitous Broadway number
Gratuitous Matrix Scene
Wax candle
Gnome R&B band

Kung Fu
Knife Fu
Tail Fu
Torch Fu
Quarterstaff Fu
Pitchfork Fu
Fire Fu
Breath Fu
Fang Fu
Piledriver Fu
Clothesline Fu
Chain Fu
Suplex Fu
Headbutt Fu
Spit Fu
Chandelier Fu
Arrow Fu
Singing Fu
Tree Fu
Beer Fu
Barrel Fu
Flatulence Fu

7 on the Good Movie Scale
7 on the Bad Movie Scale