What I loved best about “Shreck” was the twisted humor - the Gingerbread Man’s “Eat me!,” the exploding bird followed by fried eggs, and best of all the frog balloon. I first saw it with my husband on opening day (where I ran into one of the law professors at the law school I work at - turns out he and his wife are big kids too) and then took my two eldest nephews to see it. I loved it, my 7 year old nephew LOVED it, and his 11 year old brother didn’t laugh as loudly as we did but assured me he dug the flick.
SPOILER!!!
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I noticed the first time I saw the movie that at some point the Three Bears became two - Mama was missing. I didn’t notice what became of her until the 2nd viewing. Remember the scene where the prince is making the magic mirror rewind and show the princess video over and over? At the beginning of that scene, notice the bear skin rug - its wearing a pink bow!
Hamadryad,Badtz Maru, and cykrider, you all mentioned my major objection to the movie. I actually thought she was a pretty cute ogress — but then we all get reminded that anyone who isn’t thin is obviously hideous. (And, like the Disney tradition of Little Mermaid, Pocahantas, etc., Fiona wasn’t just thin — she was at a thinness unattainable by actual humans, and stacked to boot.) And can I get some of those clothes of hers, that always fit perfectly no matter what size she happens to be at the time?
I also wasn’t thrilled by the gratuitous use of bad language — I thought the “kiss my (ass)”/almost mooning sequence in the song they heard when they entered the castle was totally uncalled for, as well as a “damn” stated by the donkey, in what is obviously intended to be a movie for children. Why toss those in, and prevent this from being a G movie?
I thought it was visually stunning, though. I took my 5 year old and several of his buddies to see if for his birthday today, and they all enjoyed it. (Especially the flatulence killing the fish routine.) I enjoyed it too, except the not-too-subliminal message that equated being overweight with being hideous left me slightly depressed.
Oh, and the Gingerbread Man’s finest hour was at the wedding reception at the end. I was almost in tears.
I absolutely loved the movie! Comparing Shrek to A Bug’s Life or Toy Story is like comparing apples to oranges. The latter two movies, both of which were great, have to have heart and a moral. They’re wholesome movies intent on bringing laughter and encouragement. Shrek is far more pointed in its satire of various aspects of popular culture. The love story was not the only thing going on. Granted, they could have developed the background story of the fairy-tale creatures more but shrugs what can you do?
The bad language did not bother me, as it did others. I can understand why it would bother parents but it was made relatively clear from the commercials, as well as that Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy were in it, that it was not a kids movie on the Disney level.
SPOILERS
I really liked that Robin Hood, Monsieur Hood, was French and that he liked getting…head (as his merry men said). That cracked me up! The muffin man part was also great!
Fiona’s final form was the best logistically because had she stayed a small human any kind of physical relationship with Shrek would have been very impossible or very painful. I knew she’d end up that way in the end at the beginning. But that’s just cause I’m that smart! rolls eyes
I feel eerily uncomfortable cheering the movie, which I enjoyed a lot for a computerized 90-minute Beauty and the Beast, but I’m kinda wierded out that three college kids at WSU were killed Monday night coming back from a showing out in Idaho.
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That cheeriness aside, I fell out of my chair laughing when the Disney kiosk with the dancing dolls proclaims Farquaad’s kingdom to be named… “Duloc”.
Here’s the in-joke as I see it. Notre Dame is sometimes called the “Catholic Disneyland”. The university’s full name in French means “The University of Our Lady of the Lake” and the student conduct manual (not a particularly sporting document) is called “Du Lac”. Sounds like an ND joke to me ! I wonder if any of the producers or writers were ND grads (or Michigan grads for that matter).
No, we were reminded how shallow the townspeople were. They really weren’t all that different from Farquad; they had the leader they deserved.
The fairy-tale characters had no problem with the ogress. You noticed that Shrek and his bride go back to the swamp to live, right? Why would they want to live in a kingdom full of narrow-minded jerks? We’re meant to identify with Shrek, the princess and the rest of the put-upon fantasy characters, not the townspeople.
If magic can make her body change size, why can’t it do the same for her clothes?
To increase ticket sales. “PG” movies do better at the box office than “Gs”. It’s cynical, but there you are.