Great movie for all ages. Love it.

When Shrek first came out I was so excited to see it, as a fan of fairy tales I love modern twists. I much prefer the sequel in actual fact, but the original is still highly hilarious and spins everything you know about fairy tales on it's head.

The last time I watched this I wasn't older than 10 years old and i'd say it's just as good as I remember. A beautiful story about friendship, love, self-esteem, and how looks can be deceiving. It's really not the most original script, basically a remix of popular fairy tales stitched together but the characters, the fantastical elements, and the way it satirizes classic fairy tale tropes are what makes it special. There's something for the whole family and I certainly didn't remember all those subtle adult jokes sprinkled throughout. The whole voice cast did an amazing job but the highlight for me was Eddie Murphy as Donkey, damn he's funny and talks so fast. The animation aged beautifully and even though the human faces look very odd I think it has a charm and uniqueness to it. Couldn't ask for a better soundtrack, basically all favorites. A fair amount of action and an emotional third act. I like the balance between the romance and the friendship storylines. Perfect ending. Kinda sad Puss in Boots isn't in this one.

In this slightly off-kilter fantasy comedy yarn, Mike Myers plays the title character: a grumpy, antisocial green ogre who’s unwillingly nominated (along with an obnoxious talking mule) to rescue a princess and thus bestow royalty upon a conniving small-time noble. Shockingly, on the road back to town, our little troupe of misfits discovers the true value of love and friendship and judging books by their covers and all that. Terribly formulaic and predictable material, but at least the film’s love of skewed nursery rhymes and a dynamic cast of vocal talent provides some spice. Myers breaks out his famous Scottish accent in the lead role, familiar to anyone who may have caught him as the cantankerous father in _So I Married an Axe Murderer_ or Fat Bastard in the _Austin Powers_ films, and delivers his usual blend of tame, family-friendly laughs and heart-on-sleeve sentimentality. Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow provide varying degrees of support beneath his extra-sized performance. Although it generally looks and acts like a clumsy student film, maybe an exercise to work out the kinks of its now-prehistoric animation software, _Shrek_ is actually the second fully-CG movie released by DreamWorks Animation. What lessons they learned with 1998’s _Antz_, I can’t imagine, because surely this must’ve represented some kind of step forward and it looks reeaaallly bad. For such a visual-driven genre, that’s a backbreaker. The voice actors do generally good work, Murphy and Myers especially, but not enough to overcome such a stiff, boring aesthetic and an unremarkable plot. Did this become a meme because so many internet trolls grew up with it, or because it’s so painfully inept? Maybe a little of both?