My Movie Review on Shrek

Greetings, my good lads and lasses.

This is your jolly film, TV show, and episode reporting lad here with another review.

And today, for my 9th "Thanksgiving Treat" to you, I'm gonna be reviewing "Shrek".

Here's the summary of this here tale:

Shrek is an ogre who lives alone in a swamp. He prefers being alone anyway, because when others take one look at him, they run away.

However, when the tyrannic Lord Farquaad banishes the fairytale creatures, such as Pinnochio and the three bears, to Shrek's swamp, Shrek himself takes action by marching straight to Farquaad and demand that the fairytale residents be removed. Farquaad accepts Shrek's demands, but only if the ogre can rescue a princess named Fiona from a dragon's lair. During the journey, Shrek is accompanied by a chatty and happy-go-lucky mule named Donkey.

Will Shrek be able to rescue Fiona and get his swamp back? Or will he have to permanently reside with the fairytale residents?

What's more, is being alone forever really what Shrek wants?

I know that this movie has little to do with Thanksgiving itself, but I wanted to review it and its first sequel this year for the mere fun of it. Aside from that, after reviewing Eddie Murphy's work in Disney's "The Haunted Mansion" and "Mulan", I definitely couldn't say no to the Shrek film series.

I really must say, I can see why this film is so highly regarded.

IT'S AN ABSOLUTE TREASURE!!!

For instance, the voice acting, casting, characters, and character development were all awesome with a capital 'A'.

Similar to his role of Mushu in Disney's "Mulan", Eddie Murphy was born for the role of Donkey. Any piece of dialogue and moment Murphy was given, he hit the nail on the head. And it's clear he was having a lot of fun portraying his character. One of the best parts about Donkey is that he isn't without heart and innocence. He's absolutely lovable, and aided by Murphy's performance and comedic-timings, he's elevated to the level of many comic-reliefs at Disney, like Robin Williams's Genie.

Mike Myers did a marvelous job portraying Shrek. Despite Shrek not seeming like the most lovable kind of character at first, Myers incorporated brilliant personality and comedic-timings that made the character lovable anyway. The Scottish accent Myers gave his character made Shrek all-the-more unique.

Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona was quite the powerhouse. I love Fiona's feistiness and the fact that she's not some damsel-in-distress, because she can hold her own when she needs to. Cameron Diaz was perfect for the role, incorporating astounding emotion, personality, and sense of humor that made her character far from the likes of the Disney princesses.

Finally, John Lithgow and his character of Lord Farquaad owned every scene they were featured in. Farquaad may not seem like the kind of villain one would take seriously at first, but Lithgow put such incredible flair into his role he made Farquaad someone who's both funny and intimidating at the same time. Any piece of dialogue Farquaad had, Lithgow additionally projected with a classic-villain feel. I think what likewise helped Farquaad click so well as a villain is his drive for perfection, which is to get rid of what he sees as disgraceful and make the world perfect in his own eyes.

The character development of the lead characters in articulation all proved to be really entertaining. Especially that of the developing romance between Shrek and Fiona, and the growing friendship between Shrek and Donkey.

The direction by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and the story by Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman was all-out fun too. I can also tell that producer Jeffrey Katzenberg's fingerprints were, quite frankly, all over this film, which definitely showed how passionate he was for it.

The significant thing about this movie was how the film team created a world where medieval and modern times are rolled into one in an entertaining way. The way Dreamworks poked fun at Fairytales and adaptions of them by Disney, as well as the pop culture references, was undeniably humorous.

The writers, directors, and Katzenberg weren't afraid of getting their hands dirty either. Everything about this movie was very unique and original, even though it was based off of the book by William Steig. The jokes were clever and full of wit, and the character-driven plotting tied together so well.

I admired how they made sure the film wasn't without heart too. The moral and themes of the film, which is that there's more to a person than just what's on the outside, and how important it is to get to know the person instead of immediately judging them, was a particularly nice touch.

The animation was impressive to look at too. When it came to solidifying their own style of animation, Dreamworks seriously didn't mess around. The look and feel was like that of a marvelously-done storybook, something that's often only accomplished by hand-drawn animated films. And to top it all off, Dreamworks was able to give the film an incredible cinematic-feel in their own way, which helped them to further differentiate themselves from Pixar.

Finally, the music that was composed by John Powell and Harry-Gregson Williams was magnificently melodious.

Similar to Powell and Williams's previous collaborations on "Antz" & "Chicken Run", the two composers were able to help the film in not just being a fun experience, but one that's emotional too. The music that was played while Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona were escaping from the dragon is a definite example of that, as there was a feeling of high stakes and epic thrills throughout. The incorporation of pop music and other oldie songs proved to be really fun, because they helped the film move forward and aided it in being something unique.

In conclusion, "Shrek" is undeniably one of Dreamworks's very best animated films. It's funny, heartfelt, unique, and so much more! I'm surprised that the film wasn't inducted in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress yet, really, mainly because "Shrek" is clearly a film that made history.

I highly recommend this movie as something for pre-teens and older, largely because of the adult humor.

So, I rate "Shrek" five out of five stars.