Shrek - Review

"Just another one of DreamWorks' wacky ideas." That's what you might have thought when you heard a movie about a giant green ogre was coming to theatres back in 2001. Who knew ogres could be so loved by everyone the world over. "Shrek" is known today as one of the biggest and most popular animated movie series of all time, due to its lovable characters and quirky humor and dialogue, which has quickly made it a fan-favourite.

"The greatest fairy tale never told."

The movie revolves around Shrek (Mike Myers), an ogre living in a swamp who enjoys his solitude from other creatures. He also enjoys scaring the local townsfolk as sport when they come to raid his home. He plans to remain in isolation forever when he plans to build a wall around his swamp. He is interrupted when a group of fairy-tale characters arrive at his home, being exiled there by Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). Shrek enlists the help of Donkey (Eddie Murphy) to guide him to Farquaad's castle, located in the city of Duloc. The duo quickly run into trouble when they are thrust into a tournament set up by Farquaad. The winner is to rescue the Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) in her dragon-guarded keep. Donkey and Shrek effortlessly knock out all of the competitors in the arena, and agree to rescue Fiona on the condition that Farquaad gets rid of all of the fairy-tale creatures that he banished to Shrek's swamp.

A legacy begins with a bucket of mud.

After rescuing the princess and revealing to her that he's an ogre, Fiona isn't all that pleased. But over the course of the story, the two gradually become closer, and... well, we all know what happens at the end right? Keep in mind though, that this isn't a love drama. The movie is filled to the brim with hilarious jokes, punchlines and dialogue, with some lines becoming rather famous on the internet, and Myers' and Murphy's banter is absolutely hilarious.

"Ogres are like onions!"

The movie did exceptionally well at the box office as well, earning $484.4 million in it's entire run. The series as a whole is the tenth highest-grossing franchise of all time, as well as being the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time. It also has an exceptional soundtrack, with the band Smash Mouth singing the incredibly catchy opening theme "All Star," among other groups and individuals.

Music video for All-Star, by Smash Mouth. "Hey now, you're an all-star..."

Overall, "Shrek" has become a classic that everyone will always treasure, and never fails to make you laugh. Even though the series as a whole has come to a close, this legendary scottish ogre will never truly leave, and his wisecracks and unique humour won't either. It turns out "another one of DreamWorks' wacky ideas" was true in that this guy's story underlines the word "wacky," but in the best way possible.

The good:

+Hilarious dialogue

+Awesome soundtrack

+Remains one of the best animated movies to this day

The bad:

-None that I can think of!

Final rating: 9 out of 10