Shrek

DreamWorks quickly cemented themselves as unlike other animated studios at the time when it started releasing animated material in 1995.  When they were still a new film company, their animated films, while perfectly good for what they were, didn’t do well enough for the general public to put them on the same level as Disney yet (even though Prince of Egypt was and still is outstanding), and it stayed that way until a little flick containing a big green ogre came about and suddenly the whole world was in love with a film called Shrek.  Whether they were aware of this at the moment, Shrek would eventually lead their company down a trajectory that molded them into their realized self and arguably helped them stand on their own feet better than they had previously. Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is an ogre who lives in his very own swamp. He enjoys scaring the villagers away and just being a regular all-around disgusting creature, that is until one day when a bunch of fairy tale creatures are thrown into his swamp against his will and become squatters on his land. The reason is because the ruler of the land, Lord Farquaad, (voiced by John Lithgow) doesn’t like the fairy tale creatures destroying his perfect Utopia and banished them all from his kingdom. He tells Shrek that if he goes and rescues the princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) whom he wishes to marry, he’ll remove all of them from his swamp and he can return to his isolated existence. So, Shrek accepts the proposal and is accompanied by a talking Donkey (played by Eddie Murphy) to travel to rescue the princess and get his home back. So, the journey is on to fight off dragons, the famous Robin Hood and rescue the fair maiden who turns out to have her own fair share of secrets that she would rather leave unknown. Based on the picture book of the same name written by William Steig, Shrek was a massive hit when it was released, appeasing audiences and critics for its soundtrack, humor, and animation. Despite how this movie has found its way into cinema legendary status, as well as being considered a cult classic, looking back may find that many things about this film aren’t as good as people might remember them, at least from an objective standpoint.

Being the official start of DreamWorks’ popularity, it had left an impact in the world of cinema more than just for its own company, but for animation in general as this idea of presenting a film with a surprisingly strong adult edge with risqué content only barely being covered up acted as a special nugget for kids to watch something that maybe shouldn’t be for them but feels tailored to their age group. But from the trailers, the movie seemed to have a lot funnier, darker, and more creative elements that seem to be put more to the side in exchange for a barer bones story, cut-and-dry characters, and hit and miss comedy. Considering the book seemed to contain the same level of edgy gross material and that the people behind the movie really wanted to bring the story to life, it clearly has passion behind it from directors, Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, but maybe through that passion led to a narrative direction that isn’t as fulfilling as it should be for a concept like this. The main problems seem to come from the story’s reliance on cliches. For a concept that should offer bundles of creative and imaginative takes on fairy tale stories that contains a large amount of satirical humor since it is essentially a parody of several fairy tales and Disney films, the plot seems very mundane, uninteresting and feels like its stepping more into the realms of a rom-com than a creative spin on a fairy tale. The movie does still contain a satirical edge, but that never seems to impact the story, rather existing around the plot while it continues on in a very safe and even annoyingly predictable manner. Once the princess is rescued, you can predict every avenue they are going to take in regard to the romance, which results in a cliched third act that really doesn’t work as a satire or even as a basic fairy tale, it’s just not entertaining. The best element of this story, however, is the portrayal of the moral; it takes a very basic idea that is used in various Disney films and fairy tales but adds a twist to it that opposes other versions of the message, but still ends on a positive note. It is still familiar enough to recognize, and it gotten across a lot better than other films of its type.

The characters are meant to be akin to familiar tropes and cliches from fairy tales so they can be spun on their head (the monster being the main hero, a donkey for a stead as opposed to a horse, the main prince charming being a short angry ineffective man, etc) and all of these ideas would be fine if more personality and more unique elements were added in order to help them stand out more. Shrek doesn’t stand out much as a character outside of Mike Myers as the voice, which even then is just him doing his usual Scottish accent that he’s done in other material, Fiona on paper seems pretty good as her backstory and personality seem pretty well laid out, but the writing and the cliche romance blocks a lot of quality material for her to work with, Farquaad just seems like a one-note joke which even then isn’t that funny and his lack of presence in the film just leaves him as a forgettable role even though Lithgow is a great choice, and Donkey is given no good material to work with despite Eddie Murphy clearly giving it his all, so he just comes across as annoying and like a stand-up that’s constantly trying out his material whether the people around him want him to or not (not helped by the fact that his stand-up isn’t funny). The voice actors are doing exactly what they are directed to do, nothing bad but never being able to be extremely funny or creative when hindered by a bland script. These are funny and talented people who have been funny in many other films, but they are forced to keep to the level the story allows them and even when they don’t, it seems out of place and too dragged out. Even though the twist is supposed to that they’ve switched roles, it doesn’t expand on that any further, leading their trajectories down a relatively basic outline that isn’t too surprising for what was promised.

Shrek was technically DreamWorks’ first step into 3D animation (at least for their animated library) and for their first outing, it managed to do some things strongly enough that it became a medium more sort after than 2D animation, which effected the progression of animated films in the future (for better or worse). The environments at times can look quite nice and they know how to create atmosphere and mood through good uses of shading and lighting. Having the villain’s environment being very sterile and colorless and then having the fairy tale locations stand out more with harsher shadows, but also being richer in colors. Their ability to mix from warm and homely to dark and dangerous is a nice touch, and while most of the designs for the characters aren’t the most unique, its weirdly appreciated that everybody looks slightly ugly. While an odd complement, in a medium where every fairy tale creation needed to be spotless and beautiful, this movie serves its message more by using its visual to make everything look slightly off and even demented, even characters that are supposed to be pretty look a little weird, it’s cool in that department and sticks to its guns that this is more of a disturbed fairy tale than an actual one. The soundtrack has become infamous among people and has made Smash Mouth a household name (SADLY!) even if an audience member wasn’t born in the nineties, but it does seem like it isn’t always necessary to the film, it feels more contrived than flowing. Even in certain moments where a simple musical score would be effective (as the actual music by Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell is pretty nice), it ruins the moment by forcing in the emotions that should be felt naturally by overcompensating, especially in a horribly handled third act. It does have a slightly off-putting and messed up tone, making it even odder and slightly unsettling that it has become such a common kid’s film, but again is something that helps it stand out and demonstrates that when they go all the way, it does work and there is strength in this idea. Most of the writing in this film is bizarrely unfunny, whether it was because it relied too heavily on improv or they just weren’t aware with how to write for their characters, a majority of the lines in this movie are not entertaining or fresh enough to be funny. However, with that said, the satirical side of things seem to be where all the humor comes from; the magic mirror being like a date show opening, the gingerbread man in general, robin hood’s sequences, blowing up the bird with singing then eating its eggs, that smack against Disneyland in the villain’s kingdom with the puppet show, all of that stuff is great. It feels like these writers (Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman and Roger S. H. Schulman)  have a good understanding of how to have a satirical edge, and how to be appropriately dark enough to be funny. It was just whenever they went back to the main characters that the film slows down and becomes an ogre-fied version of Wedding Crashers.

The best way to describe Shrek is wasted potential. This could have been something with more satirical, darker, and funnier elements, and instead it resulted in a very basic set-up with basic characters. The side characters and some of the more adult jokes gave hints to those aspects, but the main plot is too overly boring to make it anything major. It seemed to have better comedy and imagination in its visuals, atmosphere, and tone than in its characters, story and above all else, writing. There is some genuinely funny moments and creative elements in this movie that make it at least entertaining enough. It has its own charm that has grown its way into people’s hearts that has made it a cult classic for kids. If anything, the movie deserves to be respected more than liked due to how it wanted to change the way people looked at these stories and even to some extent animation, and in many respects, they did that as most animated movies after that wanted to replicate parts of their film into themselves.  In terms of giving DreamWorks a chance to become a bigger movie company that could create better and more imaginative films later in its span (including the superior sequel) it deserves some recognition for that. But as a whole, maybe stop talking about onions and give the world something a bit funnier.