Shrek the green ogre who has always found solitude in his swamp is soon disturb and forced into action by a very cunning Lord in a quest to rescue princess Fiona.
Here is a movie of the times, funny, enjoyable, perfect-looking, and altogether original in a way that might cause us to look again at the meaning of the word.
With improbable finesse it buffs up some of the oldest tropes of storytelling and then gives them a mischievous tilt, so that we appear to be watching a celebration of a genre and a sneaky subversion of it at the same time.
Shrek is alive, and with dark, sly and absolutely hilarious irreverence lampooning every once-sacred characteristic of the nursery kingdom. Shrek is a subversive joy..
Shrek's ability to fit in a number of touching, funny moments says much about the intelligence and wit behind it. It's just a shame that the film is never as clever or as hip as it so desperately feels the need to be.
After a 90-minute onslaught of in-jokes, here's the real punch line: Shrek strives to have a heart. Supposedly there's a message about beauty coming from within, but somehow it rings hollow.
