It's Pretty Easy Being Green!

Once upon a time a tiny lord of a tiny land decided to become king by marrying a beautiful princess. He didn't count on two things, the princess's spunk and Shrek.

Shrek finds it easy being green. Green, smelly and gross...Shrek goes through life blissfully being ogre-ish and disgusting. What he eats is sure to curdle your stomach. Eyeballs rank high on his menu, along with slimy slugs, furry vermin and gelatinous goo of mysterious origin. He finds his amusement in thwarting the villager's efforts to remove him from his swamp. Frightening the townsfolk gives him immense pleasure. But this is one ogre with a tender heart.

While roaming in his swamp one day, he runs into a little donkey who has the irritating ability to speak...non-stop. The donkey is lonely and wants, most of all, for Shrek to become his friend. This arrangement does not appeal to Shrek. All he wants is to be left alone, but alas...one day he finds his peaceful, homey swamp uncomfortably populated with all sorts of fairytale creatures. They have been rounded up and exiled to his swamp by Lord Farquaad.

Shrek goes on a mission to see Lord Farquaad, the ruler of Duloc to get these creatures removed from HIS swamp! But he ends up having to go on a quest to retrieve the Princess Fiona from the tower being guarded by a love-starved female dragon.

The computer animation is amazing and is done by Dreamworks. It is of the highest quality and I've never seen computer animation done better. It is very lifelike and totally captivating.

The voice-over work is right on the money. Mike Myers does the voice of Shrek and adds a delightful accent to his voice that gives the touch of gentile thuggery to the character. Myers says in one interview, that his mother always read fairytales to him, and she was English, so to him all fairytales should be told with an English accent. He gave the accent a more Scottish lilt and Shrek came to life. This role was originally meant for Chris Farley, but Mike Myers got the role after Chris's death.

Cameron Diaz did the voice of Princess Fiona and she has a very sweet voice, and she does a great job of adding that special spunky quality that endears her to Shrek.

Eddie Murphy is the voice of the Donkey and he steals the show. He never SHUTS UP! It's simply hilarious. His delivery is hysterical and he has some of the funniest lines in the movie.

John Lithgow does the voice of Lord Farquaad and no one could do a better job at puffing up the dwarfish tyrant with a voice that belies his high station in life, yet hints at "his overcompensation for something, if you know what I mean".

This movie is a very clever satire of many fairytales with a few clever barbs at other films thrown in for good measure. There is a touch of crude humor. Just enough if you ask my humble opinion. And there is some adult humor, which is a delight. This movie is rated PG for mild language and some crude humor.
This movie will appeal to young and old alike and I recommend it for family viewing with older children.