'Shrek' (2001) was, and still is, an absolute phenomenon. It created such a storm when it was first released that the Academy created a whole new category so that they could give it an Oscar. And I would be lying if I said that I didn't get caught up in all the Shrek love when I was a kid. I used to watch this film, and all the sequels a lot. However, it has been a very long time since I last saw this film. Does it hold up 19 years on? Not quite... The film follows an ogre named Shrek (Mike Myers) who enjoys a solitary life in his swamp. One day a host of fairy tale creatures are dumped into his swamp by Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow), who promises Shrek that he will move these creatures on if he saves the Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a dragon. Accompanied by a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy), Shrek embarks on this quest full of adventure, danger, and some self-discovery.
Do you ever go and re-watch 'Toy Story' (1995) and retreat in horror at just how terrible all the human characters look in that film? 'Shrek' suffers somewhat from this as well. Although no way near as horrific, there is a rather uncomfortable uncanny valley look to a lot of the human characters in this film. You can probably chalk this down to the time but it hasn't aged all that well. This can be said for a lot of the animation in this film. For the most part, it still holds up quite well, but there are a few moments where it looks quite janky and it pulls you out of what is going on in the narrative at that moment. Speaking of the narrative, it is solid enough. It is a little cliched in parts but that's to be expected. After all, it is a film that is satirising the whole Disney formula, and using a Disney style fairy tale story means that you are going to be cliched at times. I think all the voice performances in the film are pretty solid as well. Mike Myers might not have the best Scottish accent in the world, but you can't say it isn't a consistent one and he is able to portray emotion and feeling through his voice work. Cameron Diaz also puts in a good performance, as does Eddie Murphy even if I tend to find Donkey a lot more annoying now than I did when I was a kid. My favourite performance in the film comes from John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad. He plays the character brilliantly, managing to be slimy and evil but always with a sense of naivety and unwarranted ego behind everything he does. So much of the overconfidence of the character is put through in Lithgow's performance and it is the one I left the film having enjoyed the most.
Okay, before I go any further into criticising this film I do want to say that I did still enjoy it. Is it as good as I remember it being? No. But it is still a fun enough film and it has a great score to go along with it. But, and don't bite my head off because of this, doesn't it just kind of feel like a dumbed-down, kid-friendly version of shit spoof movies? You know, the 'Epic Movie' (2007) and 'Vampires Suck' (2010) kind of films? Okay maybe that is going a little far because those films are some of the biggest shit stains of cinema but I think the comparison is still warranted. So those films are basically just a random sequence of references to popular films that are only there for people to be like 'I know that thing'. This film is also very guilty of that. The Disney and fairy tale references are all fine because that is what the film is satirising, I don't have a problem with that. But then there are just random references to films which add nothing to the narrative or mood and are just there, like in those shit spoof movies, so people can be like 'haha its funny because it's from that thing I know'. The most heinous examples of this are the Matrix reference during the fight scene and then a one-legged gingerbread man looking straight in the camera and saying 'God bless us, everyone'. The second one in particular had me rolling my eyes. The innuendo in this film is also ridiculous. Innuendo in kids films is nothing new and when do well can be quite fun, but this film may as well be throttling you with their innuendos. I mean there is literally a scene where we cut to Farquaad in bed looking at the princess so we can make a joke about him having a boner. That is all the scene is there for. Again, despite all I just said, I don't hate this film, nor do I think it is a bad film, but it is not as great as I remembered.
Is this going to be my most controversial review? Possibly. It seems that everyone loves 'Shrek' and I don't know if it is due to rose-tinted glasses on their part or just a cynical view on mine but I can't agree with that love. The film is fun for the most part with decent voice performances and a story that, although cliched, I bought into. But the film has aged quite poorly, both in how it looks and it's content. The innuendo is so ridiculous throughout and it does often feel like a bad spoof film. But it is still fun and I think I would recommend it, although I'm guessing every single one of you reading this has already seen it and have your opinions about it. For me, this may have been my last ever viewing of it. But then again it is 'Shrek', I'll probably be back someday.