Shrek (2001)

 

A firm dose of irreverent humour? Making fun of a lot of tropes that are prevalent in fairytales? Subverting expectations? A hoot to watch?

'Shrek' is all of this, and perhaps even more. Nowadays we all know what a success this film was, but no one knew if this would actually work. See, it all takes place in a fairytale land, but nothing is what it seems. Which is - of course - part of the fun. 

Shrek is an ogre who lives alone in a swamp. He feels good there, as everyone leaves him alone, save for the occasional humans that try to kill him, but he takes care of them without too much of a hassle. But things start changing when his swamp is invaded by fairytale creatures. The reason for this is that Lord Farquaad (Best. Villain. Name. Ever.) is in the process of banishing said creatures as he wants his city and region of DuLoc to be as sterile, pristine and, well, boring as possible. Fairytales don't really belong in his vision. 

Shrek isn't having any of this, and sets out to confront Farquaad in order to get his swamp back. But as it turns out, Farquaad demands that Shrek do one thing for him in exchange for his swamp: bring back a princess called Fiona from her castle which is protected by a dragon. Shrek reluctantly agrees and succeeds, but along the way, things start to change and both Fiona and Shrek aren't truly what they appear to be...

So yes, in essence this is a story about how you should never judge a book by its cover, but it is done with so much relish and fun, you'd be forgiven if you had actually forgotten this part of the tale. But as a film, 'Shrek' is incredibly tight and above all: beyond hilarious. Seriously, this film is a hoot. The visual jokes work, the referencial ones work and even the slapstick is pretty spot on. Every performer involved goes the extra mile to make their character's voice fit. Mike Myers is great as Shrek, Cameron Diaz is surprisingly good as Fiona and Eddie Murphy as Donkey is literally Eddie Murphy, in that he is almost a bit too energetic for his own good. But it works. The later installments would branch out and focus more on sidecharacters, but here, it's pretty much about the trio of Shrek, Donkey and Fiona. 

Oh, and John Lithgow as Farquaad? Brilliant. Lithgow has got that arrogant sneer down to a T and he is probably one of the few actors who can pull it all off with a degree of seriousness that is unequalled in comedy. 

Kids will love this, adults will love this even more. Go and watch it if you haven't. If you have: go and rewatch it. It's a damn good time.