Shrek
The cynical green ogre at the heart of what DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg calls a “fractured fairy tale” ...
The cynical green ogre at the heart of what DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg calls a “fractured fairy tale” doesn’t want any company, least of all an entire storybookful of annoyingly cute characters. So when Shrek (Myers, voicing a role once slated for the late Chris Farley) finds his swamp suddenly overrun by a little wooden boy, a trio of blind mice, a wolf in grandma’s clothing—all banished from the kingdom of the evil, four-feet-tall Lord Farquaad (Lithgow)—he strikes a deal with the nobleman: his home as it was if he rescues Princess Fiona (Diaz). At the ogre’s side is a smart-ass donkey (Murphy) whose life he has inadvertently saved; together they face down a dragon and discover that “there’s a lot more to Fiona than meets the eye,” says codirector Adamson (who did the effects for Batman & Robin).
Adapted from the William Steig book and computer-animated by Pacific Data Images (Antz), the movie “has an amazing message,” Myers says, “which is that beauty and goodness come in many shapes and sizes.”
Sure, but Shrek knows how to get down and dirty too: The film takes some unmistakable digs at Katzenberg’s former employer, Disney (the manicured spaces and oppressive rules in Farquaad’s kingdom; a nod to Disney chieftain Michael Eisner’s famously calling Katzenberg a “midget”). “Oh, God, yes,” Lithgow says. “Jeffrey loves injecting studio politics into his stories. He’s completely unapologetic about it.”
The Bottom Line: Princess Fiona’s explosive duet with a songbird may well be the last word on Disney musicals. Predicted Score: $170 million
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Copyright © 2008 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.