# Shrek: I'm not impressed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2001, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849 "2001-11-12T02:52:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/1 "2001-11-12T02:52:12Z")
So **Anniz** and I go DVD shopping this afternoon. We wanted to get one of her faves, _The Big Lebowski_, but it wasn’t in stock. I saw a few I wanted (_Empire of the Sun_ among them), and then she saw _Shrek_. Neither of us had seen it, but we wanted to. We never got around to the theatres last winter when it was released, and we looked forward to renting the film when the DVD was finally released. She talks me into buying it, saying that she saw the trailer and loved it. I generally don’t like to buy DVDs of films I haven’t seen, but she’s a bit more liberal with her DVD-purchasing standards than I am. So, we buy _Shrek_. (We also bought _Dr. Zhivago_, one of my all-time faves, but that’s a different thread.) We sit down to watch it tonight and don’t even get it finished before we’re both bored and listless. Shrek is just Mike Myers’ Fat Bastard from _Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me_, Eddie Murphy is really just Jar-Jar Binks. Cameron Diaz’s character made the film slightly more interesting, but overall: what’s the big deal? Edumacate me, folks. Shrek: I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![snac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@snac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snac)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/2 "2001-11-12T03:08:25Z")
Gee, Montfort, I’d help ya if I could… …but I practically fell asleep last summer when I saw it with the kids at the drive-in, so I don’t have a clue either. The kids loved it (I was with three–one 12, one 13, and one 14). Couldn’t figure out why. Like you, I await further elucidation. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/3 "2001-11-12T03:22:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Montfort \* > \*\* > > Edumacate me, folks. Shrek: I don’t get it. \*\* There’s really nothing to educate you about. You’re a grown up and you saw the same movie we did. You didn’t like it and those of us who did aren’t going to change your mind. That’s ok, there are plenty of things I really don’t care for that others seem to really enjoy such as Absolutely Fabulous. Marc ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/4 "2001-11-12T03:28:24Z")
I love Shrek, but hate Big Lebowski. Maybe the difference is as fundamental as that. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/5 "2001-11-12T05:02:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Montfort \* > Edumacate me, folks. Shrek: I don’t get it. The big appeal of **Shrek** is for folks who like being told hold cool and in-the-know they are. Strip aside all of its pop-culture references, and the movie becomes a mildly original fairy tale, albeit one that could have used a few revisions to the plot. Throw in the “subtle” Disney jabs, and the musical references, and the movie references, and the TV references, then hopefully you’ve got enough comedy in there to make up for the lackluster story. Now, I liked **Shrek,** but I also realize that it’s not going to go down in history as a timeless animated classic. That’s the honor of Pixar’s computer-animated cartoons, since they take the effort to write stories that last longer than the latest Boy-band Pop fad. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/6 "2001-11-12T05:23:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Montfort \* > > Edumacate me, folks. Shrek: I don’t get it. > > The big appeal of **Shrek** is for folks who like being told hold cool and in-the-know they are. Strip aside all of its pop-culture references, and the movie becomes a mildly original fairy tale, albeit one that could have used a few revisions to the plot. Throw in the “subtle” Disney jabs, and the musical references, and the movie references, and the TV references, then hopefully you’ve got enough comedy in there to make up for the lackluster story. \*\* I thought the big appeal was that it was a fun movie. No it wasn’t the best film ever but it was something I found fun to watch. And if movies had to be original to be any good American Beauty wouldn’t have won any Oscars. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Now, I liked **Shrek,** but I also realize that it’s not going to go down in history as a timeless animated classic. That’s the honor of Pixar’s computer-animated cartoons, since they take the effort to write stories that last longer than the latest Boy-band Pop fad. \*\* You liked Shrek and you’re being that hard on it? I’d hate to see you talk about am ovie you didn’t like. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/7 "2001-11-12T05:51:37Z")
I liked _Shrek_ okay but I expected it to be much better than I actually found it. Virtually everyone who saw it said it was great and I thought _Antz_ by the same producers was excellent. But I found _Shrek_ to be a competent movie with nothing particularly outstanding about it (except the unusually vehement Disney bashing). ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/8 "2001-11-12T07:09:20Z")
Loved Shrek because it tickled my funnybone, and because I enjoyed the slant taken on all of the fairy tales, but that’s not why I’m here. On disc one, go to special features and click on sneak preview. You get a teaser trailer for Dreamworks next animated movie, Spirit, and it’s gorgeous. It consists of an eagle soaring through a Southwest landscape of canyons and buttes and then a dense forest and finally a plain with a group of mustangs running, all to the score from “Hoosiers” (trailers almost never use the movie’s score primarily because it’s one of the last things done). A voiceover gives some hints about what the movie is about, but the opening visuals of the eagle are amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/9 "2001-11-12T08:13:24Z")
I didn’t care much for Shrek either, and both my kids were bored with it after about the first 40 minutes or so. The only part of the movie I enjoyed was the karoke in the forest. The main thing I disliked about the film was that it wasn’t consistant in it’s message. “Don’t judge Shrek based on his appearance. Princess Fiona is beautiful, in any form. But the Prince…oh he’s short.” Don’t make jabs at the prince because he’s a jerk, just make sure to mention his height, or lack thereof. (Yes, I know it’s supposed to be jabs at Eisner, or whoever’s in charge of Disney,[sub]and frankly I’m too tired right now to go look it up[/sub] but do kids know that?) ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/10 "2001-11-12T08:16:57Z")
We got the DVD - it’s good, not great. Has some really funny moments, but it’s mostly not the style of humor I like. One thing distressed me - it wasn’t letterboxed. I don’t remember a menu to choose between pan & scan and letterboxed, but maybe I missed it. Someone please tell me there is a letterboxed version in the set. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/11 "2001-11-12T08:46:53Z")
Gee, mine is letterboxed. Mind you, animated movies don’t usually have an extreme widescreen version, it’s usually a sort of in-betweener ratio. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/12 "2001-11-12T08:47:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\*One thing distressed me - it wasn’t letterboxed. I don’t remember a menu to choose between pan & scan and letterboxed, but maybe I missed it. Someone please tell me there is a letterboxed version in the set. \*\* It’s letterboxed on the second disk. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/13 "2001-11-12T11:51:29Z")
When it first came out, I had no interest in seeing Shreck, but my oldest brother kept talking it up as a good movie. So, even though I suspected part of the charm of it was that he could watch it with his 10 year old daughter without becoming completely bored, I finally saw it when it came to the bargain theater ($2.00 admission). I can honestly say it is a perfectly good bargain movie. I would have hated paying $7.00 for it though. Being raised on the original Grimm’s fairy tales, I thought Shreck lacked that dark edge that gives a good fantasy tale its joi de vivre. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/14 "2001-11-12T13:56:04Z")
Second disc?? Wait a sec, mine has only one disc… Hmm. Better check this out. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/15 "2001-11-12T15:40:40Z")
I thought the movie was OK, not great. Won’t buy the DVD or anything like that. I do have a problem with the end though. Why did the Princess have to become an ogre? Because it was just be too “icky” the other way? I think it would be nice if the message was “a beautiful princess can still be in love with an ugly ogre.” Instead it’s “a beautiful ogre can still be in love with an ugly ogre.” ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/16 "2001-11-12T17:12:49Z")
I think part of the draw was the fact that it’s been so long since there’s been a kids movie that parents could actually sit through. I mean, you gotta admit, _Shrek_ had a decent storyline and some off-the-nose adult-tuned humor in there in addition to completely holding the intrest of any kid. It wasn’t overly sappy or corny at all and it didn’t treat the audience like idiots like so many kids movies do nowadays. So, while it’s not _The Usual Suspects_, it probably _is_ the best kids movie I’ve seen since _Aladdin_, and I think alot of people were both surprised and excited by that. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/17 "2001-11-12T17:31:10Z")
I’m with **Enuma** ; we saw it yesterday at the cheap movies (paid $3.50 for it), and felt like we got our money’s worth. I think it may be another case of the movie being a victim of its own hype - you hear so much about a movie, everyone raves about it, and when you finally see it, its been built up so much in your mind that the reality never quite lives up. That’s why I enjoyed “Titanic” so much - I saw it the week it was released, and sat in stunned silence at the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/18 "2001-11-12T17:54:46Z")
Am I the only one that didn’t see this movie as a kids movie? I don’t remember seeing any advertising saying it was for kids. Just because it was animated doesn’t mean it was for children. I think a lot of the movie would be over a childs head. I enjoyed it very much. And yes…my 7 yr old watched it…she loves it. ---
**Author:** ![ScriptAnalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@ScriptAnalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScriptAnalyst)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/19 "2001-11-12T20:14:48Z")
Mildy amusing. Wildly over-rated. Hypocritically two-faced: “We’ll trash the fairy-tale conventions so it will appeal to the cynical teenagers, and then we’ll embrace them so family audiences will love it too.” And the CGI was no big deal, either. It lends a modern look to the fairy-tale story, but the craftsman ship and artistry are not up to the best levels seen in traditional animation or in CGI from Pixar. Not that it was bad, but it wasn’t amazing. Steve Biodrowski [http://www.thescriptanalyst.com](http://www.thescriptanalyst.com) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849/20 "2001-11-12T20:17:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > \*\*I thought the movie was OK, not great. Won’t buy the DVD or anything like that. I do have a problem with the end though. Why did the Princess have to become an ogre? Because it was just be too “icky” the other way? I think it would be nice if the message was “a beautiful princess can still be in love with an ugly ogre.” Instead it’s “a beautiful ogre can still be in love with an ugly ogre.” \*\* But the curse was that she wouldn’t have her true form until she was kissed by her true love. There were some clues in the movie that ogre might have been her true form. 1. She doesn’t seem to think Shrek is hideous. 2. She burps like Shrek. 3. She beats people up like Shrek. 4. She likes eating the same kind of food as Shrek. 5. She kills a cute little bird so she can make breakfast. 6. She makes balloon animals just like Shrek. And I think you missed the message. It turns out that neither one of them was ugly. Shrek thought he was ugly but the princess didn’t seem to think that was true. The princess thought that her ogre form was ugly and that Shrek wouldn’t love her that way. Turns out that Shrek still thought she was beautiful as an ogre. Happy ending for all. Marc [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrek-im-not-impressed/92849.md?page=2)