My Review of Shrek · 1:08am Feb 18th, 2022
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for tonight! This evening, I will be reviewing one of DreamWorks’ most famous fantasy/family movies of all time: Shrek from 2001. This is one of my favorite childhood movies ever and one of the best family films that exist in DreamWorks’ filmography. It is so iconic that it gave birth to a lot of memes that have become part of pop culture and meme culture even to this very day. Ever since I first watched this as a kid, it was stuck on my mind and made a huge impression on me in more ways than one. This was the movie that I would re-watch constantly with my family and laugh at every single time. Did I ever mention this was the first DreamWorks film I’ve ever watched?
This is about an ugly ogre named Shrek who lives in a swamp all by himself who is encountered by all sorts of fairy tale creatures, one of them being a talking donkey named...Donkey. Shrek is later on tasked by Lord Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona from the fire-breathing dragon; eventually, he starts to fall in love with her. Soon, he discovers that he is not the only ogre waltzing around on earth.
This was a pretty well-written movie that is full of awesome voice-acting, character development, splendid humor, and an epic soundtrack! This is probably the best voiceover performance Mike Myers has ever done in a 3D animated movie! He was the perfect guy to voice the main titular character since he had the perfect personality and right tone to portray him. I simply cannot imagine anyone else taking the role besides him. The same can be said for Donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy. He was both hilarious and entertaining as the deuteragonist and stole the whole movie for me. If it weren’t for his wonderful vocal performance in this movie, I would have never loved this movie as much as I do now.
Additionally, Cameron Diaz did a wonderful job in voicing Fiona and giving life to the tritagonist. Fiona has by far the best character design and is one of my favorite characters in this movie and in this entire franchise. Plus, she was one of the first female characters I had a crush on when I was a kid. And of course, John Lithgow did a good performance as Lord Farquaad, the main antagonist of the film. He isn’t one of my favorite intimidating villains, but he comes a close second as one of my favorite comedic villains. I hope he enjoyed himself in the dragon’s belly ;).
I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack, composed by both John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams. The themes and songs are iconic and nostalgic even in this day and age.
If there was one thing I enjoyed the most about this movie, it’s how Shrek would often make fun of or poke fun at its fantasy fairy tales. Although there were several things in the movie I didn’t particularly enjoy (one of those factors being the weird romance between the dragon and Donkey), I still love this movie for what it is. Honestly, I’m glad this movie sparked three sequels after this because I wanted to see clearly how Shrek and Fiona had a “happily ever after” after they were married. I mean, realistically speaking, that doesn’t work that way.
Wherefore, I rate this gem a solid 9/10!
One of my favorite childhood movies of all time and I still love watching it after two whole decades.
When I was a child, "Shrek" was such a popular word-of-mouth in my public school days. However, I wasn't allowed to watch it yet because my parents didn't think I was old enough to. I eventually watched it and the sequels when I was a teenager, and even today...I can see why they didn't want me to see it yet, mainly because of the overall humor and concept.
"Shrek" is among a great many gems that was practically made for pre-teens and older, and it's one of the reasons for why I love it too.
This movie is a masterpiece. I love how you can appreciate the humour when you grow up but the kids can enjoy it too.