You're an Orge If You
Don't Enjoy Shrek!

By Teddy Durgin
It's getting to the point where the only way two movie characters can believably fall in love, ride off into a sunset, and/or break into song is if they are animated. I have written often about today's increasingly cynical moviegoers, how hard it is to reach their inner child, their inner romantic, their inner movie fan. And that's just the 12-year-olds in the audience!

The makers of the new animated movie, Shrek, are also aware of this. So, in addition to being a sweet, romantic fairy tale about an ogre finding love with a princess, Shrek is also a hip, modern parody of everything from Disney films to modern action flicks. In some stretches, it's a little too clever for its own good. But it rarely stops being imaginative and fun entertainment that is downright fantastic to watch.

Mike Myers voices the title character, a reclusive ogre who lives alone in a swamp. Myers gives the character a gruff Scottish brogue similar to his Fat Bastard assassin from the second Austin Powers film. Shrek is grumpy, disgusting, and flatulent. He's got bad breath, bad teeth, and a bad temper. He's kind of like me on a Tuesday morning. But Shrek is not a complete lost cause (unlike me on a Tuesday morning). He has a strong sense of self. He knows that people are afraid of him, and he uses it to his advantage. But he often sells himself short to protect his own feelings. He puts himself down before others can. Shrek is always on the offensive. He is an aggressive character, and I liked him a lot. Kudos to Myers and the animators on a fantastic collaboration.

Shrek exists in a world populated by most of the great fairy-tale characters. Pinocchio, Tinkerbell, the Big Bad Wolf, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Three Little Pigs ... they're all here. So is the Wicked Witch and Little Bo Peep. But they are all under the despotic rule of Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow, slicing even more ham here than he does on "Third Rock from the Sun"). Farquaad is a diminutive tyrant who has banished all of these storybook characters to Shrek's swamp. Farquaad wants everything in his kingdom to be perfect. Out of sight, out of mind. That's his motto. Shrek just wants his solitude back.

The battle won, Farquaad's sole remaining quest is for a princess to marry so he can officially become king. He turns down Cinderella. She's got a self-image problem. He rejects Snow White. She stays in bed all day and lives with seven guys. The one he does pick is Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), a fair maiden who is imprisoned in a faraway castle by an angry, fire-breathing dragon. The weakling prince makes Shrek a deal. Go rescue the princess and your swamp will once again be yours and yours alone.

Shrek is a tale that is very similar to other heroes' journeys. What distinguishes the film, though, is also what holds it back from being a modern-day classic, namely it's cutting-edge, 2001 humor. The story is populated by irreverent sight gags and one-liners that are funny today, but might fall flat in 2003 or 2005 when the next set of young 'uns pops in the Shrek video or DVD.

Remember Aladdin in 1992? Remember when Robin Williams as the Genie mimicked Arsenio Hall from his late-night talk show? Nine years later, does anyone even remember that Arsenio had a talk show? Shrek is filled with these kinds of moments. At one point, Princess Fiona gets into a Matrix-style fight with Robin Hood and his Merry Men. She hangs suspended in mid-air, kicking and karate-chopping like Carrie-Anne Moss. Note to Hollywood: Please stop using this special effect! Shrek is four years in the making and even some of the references in it NOW (the Macarena, Riverdance, etc.) seem dated.

That's not to say all of the pop-culture nods are bad. There is a moment that recalls the original Babe that I liked a lot. I also enjoyed Farquaad's castle being set up to resemble an abandoned theme park reminiscent of EuroDisney. And some of the soundtrack's pop songs are used to wonderful effect, especially Joan Jett's Bad Reputation that plays while Shrek fights off Farquaad's soldiers Hulk Hogan-style.

Shrek is at its best when it is spoofing various fairy tales and incorporating their classic characters into the plot. There is much snarky, dark humor in the movie. At one point, Farquaad actually tortures the Gingerbread Man for information by dipping him in milk and tearing off one of his legs (to which the Gingerbread Man responds, "Eat me!") And whoever had the idea to outfit the Three Blind Mice with dark glasses and walking canes is a twisted genius!

Actually, some of the film's best gags have nothing to do with spoof. Shrek likes his martinis. But instead of olives, he drops human eyeballs into his drinks. I also loved the giddy little romantic moment when Shrek and Fiona are walking through the swamp, and they decide to inflate a live frog and a live snake and use them as balloons. And I won't even go into how Fiona fixes Shrek and his talking Donkey (Eddie Murphy in full chatterbox mode) an egg breakfast.

The computer animation is top-notch in these and all sequences. The visuals have a depth and a consistency to them that completely immerses the viewer in the storyline. Landscapes are lush and dense. When Shrek and Donkey (that's the name given to him) walk through a field of sunflowers, the pedals ripple and shiver in the breeze as believably as if they were photographed in real life. The attack on the dragon's lair is so vivid, you forget that several hundred Poindexters back at the Dreamworks' labs animated it. And the people! It's getting scary how well they can animate human faces now.

Case in point. When I got home, I called a buddy of mine to tell him about the film. He asked about the various stars and how well they voiced the characters. Here is how the conversation went:

"So, how was Cameron Diaz?"

"Oh, man. You should see her! She's SO hot in this picture. She makes you believe in true love. She's everything you could want!"

"Uh, Teddy. Shrek is an animated film, right?"

"Er ... uh, never mind."

When you have overgrown boys like me on the verge of getting wood for a cartoon female, you know we aren't far away from serious breakthroughs, people. The animation is that good! Honestly, there are parts of Shrek that look more real than The Mummy Returns. Little moments, like Princess Fiona looking at herself in a bucket of water or Shrek eating a meal in front of a fireplace.

That said, Shrek is not in the same league as the Toy Story films in terms of wit and invention, but then again very few films are. While I wish the movie had kept its edge throughout, I can't help but praise it for all the many moments it did make me laugh, smile, and feel. Shrek ends with an absolutely giddy burst of joy that sees all of the main characters finding some measure of happiness. The fact that the whole sequence is set to one of The Monkees' best tunes is just too precious for words.

I'm a believer, indeed.