Shrek [PG]

Once upon a time, in a swamp far, far away lived an ogre named Shrek. Content with his solitary life, Shrek’s peaceful world is turned upside down when a multitude of fairytale creatures are forced to flee their homes and hide in his swamp from the evil Lord Farquad who wants a perfect world. Eager to get his swamp back, Shrek, accompanied by an annoying talking donkey named Donkey, goes to see Farquad, and the two come to a mutual agreement: if Shrek can rescue the fair Princess Fiona and bring her to Duloc to marry Farqaud, he can have his swamp back. 

This is the film where Dreamworks struck gold. Shrek was the first wonderfully funny and classic fractured fairytale that had both children and adults in fits of hysterics and delight. 

Once upon a time, a swamp far, far away, lived an ogre named Shrek. Content with his solitary life, Shrek’s peaceful world is turned upside down when a multitude of fairytale creatures are forced to flee their homes and hide in his swamp from the evil Lord Farquad who wants a perfect world. Eager to get his swamp back, Shrek, accompanied by an annoying talking donkey named Donkey, goes to see Lord Farquad, and the two reach a mutual agreement: if Shrek can rescue the Princess Fiona and bring her to Duloc to marry Farqard, then he can have his swamp back. 

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE FRACTURED FAIRYTALE. What makes Shrek so brilliant is the fact that it’s one hundred per cent original. It takes all the classic fairytale plotlines of romance, chivalry, brave knights, and true love’s kiss, and completely turns them on their ears, rewriting all the fables for a modern audience and creating a league of its own in the process. 

The humour of the film is very, very clever as it takes certain parts of the classic fables and reworks them so that they are both physically and verbally hilarious for both children and adults. Case in point, the scene where Princess Fiona is singing enchantingly in the woods and a bird is singing along with her. Fiona, obviously channelling Snow White, hits an excruciating high note and the bird attempts to match it and explodes. It’s silly and a bit of schadenfreude, but it’s very, very funny. 

In Shrek, audiences will recognise characters, situations, and lines from all manner of fairytales and fables including Snow White, Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Goldilocks, The Three Blind Mice, The Pied Piper, Robin Hood, and Little Red Riding Hood. Classic. 

The animation is just lovely and the casting was completely spot-on, everyone’s voice matched their character perfectly. 

Featuring the voice talents of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, Jim Cummings, and Vincent Cassel, Shrek is a fantastic family movie that’s filled with absolutely everything: action, adventure, magic, romance, drama, fairytale creatures, memorable characters, the odd musical number, and plenty of comedy. It’s a real classic that can be enjoyed by any and every audience.