Shrek is one funny movie, on a couple of levels. There’s the young kid movie, with fairy tale creatures popping up all over the screen, a talking donkey that regularly gets into trouble, a sweet princess who turns out to be a kick boxer and a large number of other jokes and sight gags: the fearsome Lord Farquaad who turns out to be pint-sized, a squeaky-voiced gingerbread man, ridiculous Merry Men and so on.
On a more adult level, though rather unnecessary, in my opinion, are some jokes with sexual overtones, including the usual size-does-matter routine, the donkey urinating to extinguish a fire and one weird little scene while the prince is in bed watching his not-so-beloved princess in a mirror.
But Shrek is very, very funny, for adults and kids. There’s a little bit of gross humor designed for children-farts in the pool, bathroom-type humor and so on that has great appeal for children, and a cute story line that goes like this: the nasty Lord Farquaad must find a princess to marry before he can become a king. Since he much prefers that the world serve him, he sends Shrek the ogre-upset that Farquadd has ’’relocated’’ the fairy-tale characters to his swamp-off to free the princess and bring her back for marriage. All sorts of adventures ensue.
At the end, there’s a terrific message about knowing loving oneself for who you are that easily could have been avoided, and fortunately, was not.
We’ve seen this movie at the theater and now have the new video, which includes a hilarious dance party/karaoke addition that kids absolutely love.
Mike Myers continues to impress with his range of characters and voices; I wish Eddie Murphy would do the same. He seems a bit stuck in his wacky black-guy-does-animal-characters routine that, while very funny each time he does it, gets a little wearing. Time for him to try a new routine.