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Movie Title: Shrek Review: Fat, green, ugly, and reclusive best describes the character of Shrek (sounds a bit like Michael Jackson, minus the fat) in the movie also titled Shrek. Former SNL star and current Austin Powers, Mike Myers, voices the title role in this DreamWorks’ animated but somewhat irreverent fairy tale. Myers is joined by another former SNL star Eddie Murphy who plays the jackass (I am using the animal version of the word, not the descriptive version) named The Donkey, who is Shrek’s sidekick in the film. The movie starts as we are introduced to the disgusting ogre who lives alone in his swamp, that would be Shrek. Then the mean ruler of the kingdom, Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow), decides to round up all the fairy tale creatures in the land and relocate these undesirables to that same swamp. These include Snow White and her dwarfs, the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, Pinocchio, and many others. This is how Shrek meets Donkey since Donkey can talk, and is thus passed off as one of these creatures. Of course Shrek doesn’t like all these trespassers including the annoying Donkey on his land, so off he goes to pay a visit to Lord Farquaad. Farquaad lives in a town that is meant to look a lot like Disneyland, complete with parking lots and turnstiles. Soon Shrek learns that he must rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a castle guarded by a dragon in order to get his swamp back. Lord Farquaad needs the princess so that he can become a king. The Donkey is Shrek’s only companion on this journey. Soon enough Shrek and Donkey have rescued the princess and are on their way back when love complicates things a bit. I won’t tell ya who loves who, but I will give you a hint, it’s not Shrek and Donkey. The film stays funny throughout by taking little shots at other fairy tales like Pinocchio, as well as adding some adult humor to the mix (size does matter). The directors, Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, do a great job of intertwining the jokes and the plot. Now not all of the jokes are complete hits, but you will have a smile on your face for the whole movie. Other voice actors in the film are Vincent Cassel, Peter Dennis, Jim Cummings, Chris Miller, Cody Cameron, Kathleen Freeman, and Christopher Knights just to name a few. As to the About-Movies.com rating, I give Shrek nine green couches full of worms and grubs. Farewell and goodbye to all my loyal subjects.
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