Justin's Rating: Krikey!
Justin's Review: I just love girls. They honestly crack me up, and I'm glad we have them in the world, because otherwise everything would smell worse. Girls are so funny in movie theaters, particularly when you're listening to the ones on dates. While a guy might be digging a fight, the girl makes a small comment on the outfits and what just does NOT go with those pumps. So when PoolMan and I saw Shrek, we laughed as much at the girls in the audience as the movie itself. And that was a lot of laughter. Everytime a cartoon character was misunderstood, True Luv (tm) thwarted, or a small defenseless animal flung for the better part of a mile, numerous sounds of "awwww" would erupt all around us. Just gotta love compassion. And flying donkeys.

Shrek is funny in so many ways, that it painfully kills me to see how much it trounces any comedy competition that you'll see this year. Or even last year. It's got your typical sight gags (including many digs on Disney), it's got plenty of slapstick, it's even got a bit of hit-you-on-the-head-with-a-folding-chair wrestling just in case any honkeys wandered into the theater. But the dozens of double entendres (one of which concerned a sexual function and went by so fast that I only caught it the second time) and outright warped sense of humor made this an instant favorite in my cold, black heart.

Shrek (Mike Myers) is an ogre. He's gross and stuff, yet still pretty cute and lovable. I give big kudos to the people at Dreamworks for pulling that bit of wizardry off. Shrek lives in a computer animated world, which is a lot more impressive when you start to look at the small details, like blowing grass or flying dragons. Shrek teams up with Donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy doing the most likable Eddie Murphy presentation ever (Best... Murphy... Ever). Shrek's not mean, he's just a bit self-involved, and Donkey's just a gabber. Done with a lilt in the voice, Donkey could be a housewife, easy. Shrek and Donkey embark on a quest to save the homes of the fairy tale creatures (especially the crowd favorite, the gingerbread man) and rescue Princess Fiona, an odd girl with a secret or two under her Buttercup exterior. I just love Shrek, 'cause he's such the anti-hero with the heart of gold. He does the right thing, just after a lot of poking and prodding, and he gets to run in slo-mo as a dragon's fireball races down the hall to roast him. We should all get a scene like that.

Essentially, I'm just telling you what a few thousand other critics and most moviegoers agree on: popular and critical and Justin opinion rate Shrek as GOOD. So if you like a movie where a very ugly guy CAN get the girl, where Disney is mocked and spat upon, where fairy tales prove they can be just as bizarre as they were in the old days, where a girl gets one of the coolest fight scenes since Trinity in The Matrix, and where a musical number or two is thrown in to pep things up, then Shrek is the dessert you crave after a fine steak dinner of life. Plus, and hey, Mike Myers. One of the funniest comedians to date, and many animated films could use the boost his jocular voice provides. Yay Dreamworks!

DnaError's Rating: Orge Love XXX
DnaError's Review: Let me just get this out the way right off the bat. I liked Shrek. I thought it was funny, satirical, and well animated. All the VAs are on target, and special mention must be made to John Lithgow for Lord Farquuad. The best villain-you-love-to-hate in an animated flick in a while. Since everyone agrees on it's overall gooditude, I just want to bring up some nagging points.

1) Why CGI? There is nothing here that cries out for computer animation. Nothing here couldn't be done with 2-D animation, and the CGI doesn't make any advances in the field (the fire is all CGI, which is mostly new, but there is nothing here your typical gamer hasn't seen before and better). The detail level gets reduced on a big screen and unlike most movies, actually looks better on TV then 40ft high. The whole CGI thing, however good looking, just seems like a gimmick.

2) Not Exploiting the Idea. After the big, epic castle rescue, the whole story seems to take a nose dive. The fast jokes and clever one-liners take back seat to a pretty smarmy and sentimental story about "inner beauty" while the Princess has a radical personality shift worthy of medication. The best jokes where about the fractured Fairy Tale world and the egotistical Lord Farquuad, when the movie switched focus to a Disney romance, it just limped along until the end.

3) Music. The pop music interludes, especially the opening one, have a forced and perfunctory feeling to them. I'm probably over-thinking movies again but aside from the closing number. All that "hip" music just seems cut in.

Okay, that's my rant of a review. Shrek is a delightful little satire that runs a bit too long, makes Cameron Diaz look more eerie then normal, and has the uplifting message about deus ex machincas.

Kyle's Rating: Another example of the “I’m a clone, and so are you” phenomenon sweeping the world!
Kyle's Review: Like anyone, I enjoy animation. I don’t go goo-goo-gah-gah over cartoons, and though I dig Batman and Darkwing Duck I wouldn’t have watched their cartoons if they weren’t the best viewing options available while crashed on the couch after school. Now that I control my own college schedule (no classes before 10, no classes after 3!!!) I have no time for cartoons. Besides, when I come in at midnight and turn on the tv, I pass up the cartoon channels because there is, uh, “better” stuff to watch. You may ask what any of this has to do with Shrek. That doesn’t mean I’ll answer of course. Sucker! Ha!

Just kidding. Anyway, whether you subscribe to the sociological studies that say cartoons are getting edgier and more cutting edge, or you believe my personal viewpoint (that people are devolving into immaturity and loving cartoons is just part of that process, with hip new clothing lines of teenage diapers right around the corner) there is no denying that animation is en vogue right now. Or is it in vogue? Anyway, research I don’t plan on doing revealed that DVD sales of animated features far outsell live-action films, so clearly it’s the “cool” thing to like animation. Having just spent at day at the Orange County Fair and seeing girls of all ages jumping up and down at having won (or been gifted with) the current holy grail of carnival prizes, a stuffed Spongebob Squarepants, I can attest to the cool factor of cartoons and its ink-drawn ilk. And if it’s all computer-generated, so much the better!

Which brings up finally to Shrek. I’m sure it’s a great film. It won an Academy Award, right? It must be good! 300 million people can’t be wrong, right? Wrong! Or, um, right! I forget what my point is. Oh, yeah: don’t let friends and loved ones goad you into thinking Shrek is the greatest thing since popped corn. It’s an okay movie. I rented it and couldn’t sit through it, though I could tell there is enough entertainment to placate a more dedicated viewer than I. I guess what bothers me about Shrek is that I’ve seen its humor and (supposed) fantastical innocence in much better films, but because this is computer-generated and slick-looking this gets all the awards and money. And that’s fine, because that’s how it goes, but if you think Shrek is all that I really suggest you try to broaden your horizons, because there is a big selection of humor and drama out there that is much more deserving of your time and effort than Shrek, and even though at this time of night I can’t name a single example I hope you’ll take my word for it. Read more books! See more films and plays! All I’m saying is that Shrek is okay, but if you think it’s this hallmark of filmmaking and story telling, I think you’re missing the forest for the pretty CGI trees. Let’s watch Shrek together five years from now, and we’ll decide then just how groundbreaking this really is.