Movie Scene
'Shrek' wicked fun
By Margaret McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Shrek is loaded with stolen jokes, parodies, references and allusions, but manages to feel fresh and original anyway.
Rating: (PG; mild language, some crude humor) Cast: Voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow. Director: Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson. Time: 89 minutes.
It also happens to be big-hearted, silly, wicked and loaded with laughs.
Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) has a secret she iskeeping from the ogre Shrek (voiced by Mike Meyers) in the animated film "Shrek."
The snappiest unconventional twist in the summer's first animated blockbuster wannabe is the choice of a huge, crotchety green ogre as a romantic hero.
Surrounded by a world of giddy fairy-tale characters, Shrek the ogre (voice of Mike Myers) makes a surprisingly cuddly protagonist for a story about the triumph of substance over surface in affairs of the heart.
A full-time recluse, Shrek is dragged into action when his hidden corner of the forest turns into a haven for storybook characters on the run from the evil Lord Farquaad (voice of John Lithgow). Chief among the fugitives is the motor-mouthed Donkey (voice of Eddie Murphy) who gloms onto Shrek like a long-lost brother.
To win back his home, Shrek promises to collect an imprisoned princess (voice of Cameron Diaz) for Farquaad to marry. The rescue mission offers rich opportunity for Donkey's comic chatter, and for Shrek to fall in love with the princess.
Secrets and misunderstandings intervene before the happy ending, while the DreamWorks movie's population cavort with irreverent abandon, with particular attention to mocking all things Disney. The results are usually spot-on; a dig at the pretty-girl-sings-with-the-birds scene is an outright howler.
The computer animation techniques behind the film have grown vastly more sophisticated than they were even a few years ago, allowing the filmmakers to endow their creatures with appealing personalities. The technical advances are particularly evident in the small details — blades of grass or Donkey's fur, for example.
Even so, digital figures still look — well, digital. While the major characters display an impressive range of facial expressions, minor figures wear frozen, puppet-like masks. Too often, characters move with a robotic gait; the effect is distracting, even grating, but blessedly brief.
The movie also boasts an unusual soundtrack laden with rock standards and completely unexpected choices, such as John Cale singing Leonard Cohen's poetic "Hallelujah."
