Susan Granger’s review of “SHREK” (DreamWorks)
Looking for laughter? Buy a ticket for “Shrek.” Based on a children’s book by William Steig, it’s about a cranky, offensive, green ogre named Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers, using a Scottish burr) whose solitude in a mucky swamp is shattered by pesky fairy-tale characters. There’s Cinderella, a big bad Wolf, Sleeping Beauty, Geppetto, Pinocchio, Snow White and her 7 dwarves, plus the 3 bears, 3 homeless pigs and 3 blind mice, wearing shades – all banished from their fairy tale kingdom by tiny, evil Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow), a diabolical villain who tortures a Gingerbread Man, threatens a cookie with crumbling, and talks with a Magic Mirror-on-the-Wall. Most persistent is a wise-cracking donkey (Eddie Murphy), who becomes Shrek’s loyal sidekick. Furious, Shrek confronts Farquaad, who agrees to revoke his edict if the irascible ogre will save the foxy Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a fierce dragon and bring her back to be his bride. However, feisty Fiona has her own ideas, particularly about who is and who isn’t Prince Charming. (Her Kung Fu encounter with some rather rude Merry Men recalls Diaz’s “Charlie’s Angels” character.) So much for the imaginative fractured fairy tale plot which is broadly punctuated with burps, farts and double-entendres. Dreamworks exec Jeffrey Katzenberg, who once helmed Disney, takes aim and fires satirical salvos at the Mouse House and its theme parks, along with tweaking “The Matrix” and “Babe.” The sharp, colorful PDI/DreamWorks animation has come a long way since “Antz.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Shrek” is a funny, fresh, irreverent 9 – and the message in this allegory, of course, is that there’s something wonderful and strong in all of us. So, as the swinging finale affirms, “I’m a Believer.”
