Reviews

This is an important film in the history of animation and storytelling in general. It caters for both young and old and demonstrates great skill in the art of story-telling. I've watched this movie with two four-year-olds on different occasions and they were transfixed for the full two hours. Not one moment of distraction and questions at the same points. It does need some parental guidance for very young viewers as there are some slightly confronting scenes which may require a little explanation.

While the story line is just great (cultural, diverse and imaginative) I like this film because it does what many children's films don't do which is to expose them to life, without abusing a child's sense of right and wrong. Movies like these help to prepare children for the life ahead rather than being over-protective.

You will have to run the dubbed version for young children, but do take the time to listen to the Japanese language version yourself because it makes the film more effective and even more beautiful.

Batty, good humoured and nonconformist. Thank you to everyone who made it! I saw this film many many years ago and it still ranks as a favourite. It brings alive the wonder of fairy tales that you feel as a child and the elation - do you remember that? Also that crazy sense of scale! And questions of what is really possible.

If you enjoy this, then you might like Kung Fu Hustle which is on a similar plane of comedy, heroism, action and imagination. There is some violence in Kung Fu Hustle though and some may not think it's suitable for children, but there was a family in the audience when I saw it and I was surprised to hear the younger children enjoying it.

Also if you're ever touring New South Wales in Australia, check out the Killer Whale Museum at Eden. It might change your mind about some of the stories you've heard about being swallowed by whales!

What a disappointment. After reading all the rave reviews, I thought I was going to see something different and what did I get? Just another day in the life of Batman. Yes Heath Ledger was good at the role of the Joker and it's worth seeing him play a different role so well, but the storyline was lacking. We've seen all this before. Batman is as stiff as a board, how any woman (apart from his mother) can love such a creature, I don't know. I'll give him some credit, his lips move. Effects aren't enough to make a movie worth watching. Could have got this one out as a DVD instead. Sorry Batman fans who gave this top scores, I don't think it deserves it.

This film received low coverage when first shown in Sydney, Australia and what a shame that was because it beats Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger Hidden Chickens hands down. To even compare it to those two does not do it justice, the people who made this film were awake!

Because of the action and good sound this is best seen on the big screen, but if you can't see it on the big screen, just make sure you see it :-) Good music, good humour, big characters, good choreography, plenty of surprises and a story set at a fun pace.

The people who made this used many of their own ideas, not something you see that often these days in mainstream cinema and that is why I found this so refreshing. I hear that Stephen Chow's other film, Shaolin Soccer, is very good if you can find the UNCUT version.

I'm glad I finally got round to seeing this movie and I was pleasantly surprised because Shrek has the guts to follow it's own path and doesn't feel the need to follow the same old formula's used by so many film makers today. Yes we recognise that it's essentially a love story, BUT IT HAS A GOOD SCRIPT and it's also about the battle to be brave. I hope that children do see how the fairy tale characters we love so much are set free by this film. They are able to express their individuality as we all should. Children are much tougher and much more intelligent than adults give them credit and it's views such as those that we hear in these forums which dull a child's mind.

The 3D character animation is top quality for it's day, intelligent and often subtle. This film breaks a lot of boundaries previously uncrossed in family animation. Take your children to see it, talk to them about it afterwards and see why they like it - find out who they are! Shrek addresses the world we live in today, it celebrates film making and story telling and it has a wonderful, broad range of characters. If anything there wasn't enough time to pack it all in. It wasn't perfect, but it was very good and certainly A BREATH OF FRESH AIR.