Dream Works' 'Shrek' never runs out of gas and gags

By Joko E.H. Anwar

Shrek (***1/2 out of ****); Animation/Comedy, 90 minutes; Voices by Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow.; Directed by Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson

JAKARTA (JP): How about that classic fairy tale opener? "Once upon a time, there was a ...." Naah. This unlikely tale is filled with belly-laughs and dazzling computer animation, and a contender for the most entertaining film of the year.

Last week this reviewer wrote about Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which seems to be a departure from the studio's conventional song-and-dance entry. With Shrek, Dream Works seems to have replied to the Atlantis challenge.

Shrek is nothing that you would expect from a seemingly harmless animated film. It contains fart jokes (an ogre passes gas when he is bathing in a pond, which brings a dead fish to the surface), bad taste and out-of-control gags.

Don't get me wrong, the film can be safely viewed by young audiences but it is definitely not kiddie fare.

The film has no patience for conventional fairy tales, so loyal fans of many classic tales should be aware that this film will spoof many of your favorites at any chance it has.

You will see the joyful expression on the face of a Geppeto- like old man when he succeeds in selling his wooden puppet. The film will also make fun of many other characters, from Hansel and Gretel to the three blind mice.

The film is set in a mythical kingdom where a green ogre named Shrek (voiced by Mike Meyers) lives peacefully in a swamp by scaring off people who come to near his territory.

Shrek appears for the first time in William Steig's 1990 children's book as a cheerfully ugly monster, but in the movie he is not the same fairy tale hero.

The villain here is the pin-sized tyrant Lord Farquaad (voiced by John Lithgow) who rules a highly sanitized kingdom called Duloc, with his picture posted on almost every wall in the city while souvenir shops are filled with his miniatures.

The kingdom is so tranquil it does not need any of the fairy tale figures Farquaad calls freaks. So Farquaad rules that all fairy tale creatures are banished from the kingdom.

Shrek accidentally rescues a talking donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) from his captors. The donkey admires Shrek, calling him a "mean, green fighting machine", and decides to be his sidekick. "Every monster needs a sidekick," the donkey adds.

However, Shrek considers the fast-talking donkey a "dumb, irritating, miniature beast of burden" and wishes that he could make the donkey to shut up.

In one of many hilarious moments, the donkey starts singing On the Road Again which annoys the ogre. They then negotiate. The donkey asks if he is allowed to whistle. When he is told no, he starts to hum.

As Shrek tries to get rid of the donkey, Farquaad banishes all the fairy tale creatures to his swamp.

Thinking that his privacy has been intruded upon, Shrek stamps off to see the king with the donkey tagging along.

As Shrek and the donkey travel to the castle, we are introduced further to Farquaad.

A face in a magic mirror tells Farquaad that he is not yet a king if he does not marry a princess.

After Farquaad threatens the mirror to tell him whom he should marry, the mirror gives him a choice of three princesses, in the manner of the popular TV game show The Dating Game.

The bachelorettes include Snow White, about whom the mirror comments "though she lives with seven other men, she's not easy".

Farquaad, after considering his aides' loud cheers, settles on Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) -- a cursed princess who has been banished to a castle guarded by a ferocious fire-breathing dragon. The curse can only be lifted by the kiss of the knight who rescues her.

Not to give away more of the story, Shrek agrees to rescue the princess from the castle in return for his swamp.

There is a lot of humorous dialog that adults will enjoy as well as hilarious visuals, like the scene involving a bluebird and the princess singing together. (I can't reveal it here!)

The film also benefits from its strong cast.

Although it is hard to picture Mike Myers as a gigantic ogre, he succeeds in bringing sensitivity to his character even after we see him pulling wax out of his ear to make a candle.

For Murphy, this role marks his comeback as a sidekick in animated films, after his turn in Mulan. Only in Shrek, he does it better. Since the film does not need comic relief, Murphy plays his role as a sassy, often wise sidekick.

John Lithgow is also fun as the dandy Lord Farquaad, a tiny king with too much evil going on in his head.

The no-nonsense Cameron Diaz is always reliable. She is not only nice to look at but also easy on the ears. (Do not miss the run-in with Robin Hood and his merry men, where Fiona first reveals her true self as a feisty woman who could have inspired Carrie-Anne Moss' character in The Matrix.)

Watching Shrek somehow reminds me of There's Something about Mary, which also stars Diaz. They were both well written in the same attitude: subversive but with an easily detected heart.

But one thing, Shrek's sharp turn into conventional fairy tale blemishes its own rebellious attitude. The soapy segment near the end was almost a major disappointment, but the film recovers toward the climax.

Overall, the film is a highly entertaining entry which also uses memorable songs such as You Belong to Me and Try a Little Tenderness. And we should not forget to acknowledge the animators, who succeed in bringing all these great characters to life.