In 2001, DreamWorks released a movie about a green ogre who lives in a swamp, befriends a talking donkey, rescues a princess, and falls in love with her. Twenty-five years later, people continue to quote this movie, make memes about it, and watch it voluntarily despite the millions of alternative options in the cinematic universe.
Clearly, they did something right here.
At first glance, Shrek seems like a common children’s fairytale. There is a princess, a castle, a dragon, a villain, and a happily-ever-after ending. But Shrek takes these ordinary fairy-tale elements and turns them on their heads. Underneath the crude jokes and Scottish accents, Shrek has meaningful things to say about love, friendship, identity, and acceptance.
So yes: Shrek is a cinematic masterpiece.Â
It Makes fun of fairy tales while also being one
One of my favorite things about Shrek is that it knows exactly what it is.
The story is filled with fairy-tale characters, but none of them act in traditional ways. The princess is an ogre, Lord Farquaad is three feet tall with a bad haircut, Donkey is talkative (and also a donkey), and Shrek is…Shrek. Even the idea of a “perfect” kingdom is mocked by Lord Farquaad’s obsession with appearances and control.
Rather than it just simply being a fairy tale, Shrek asks why we even use these fairy-tale conventions in the first place. With a talking donkey.
Now that is range.
shrek is actually a great character
In the beginning, I will admit that Shrek is a very unlikeable character. He’s grumpy, complains a lot, and is just flat-out mean. But as the movie progresses, we learn that he chooses to be isolated, not because he hates everyone. He’s just afraid of rejection.
And the quote “ogres are like onions” is one of the most corny metaphors in movie history. Yet it captures every part of Shrek’s character. There are layers to him. His aggression and sarcasm serve as his defense mechanism, but his relationships with Donkey and Fiona gradually peel those layers away.Â
In other words, Shrek’s character arc essentially shows us that maybe the guy who lives alone in a swamp and yells at everyone isn’t necessarily a bad person.
fiona is more than a princess
Fiona could have easily been written as a princess whose only duty was to get rescued, married off, and live happily ever after.Â
Instead, she is one of the best characters in the movie.
She can fight. She’s funny. She has opinions and secrets. Most importantly, she doesn’t end up with Shrek because he fulfills her romantic destiny. Their relationship develops because they genuinely understand each other.
And then comes the movie’s biggest rejection of fairy-tale romance. When Fiona finds the magic and beauty of true love…she turns into an ogre.
Her ogre-ness could have been something that would have to be “fixed”. Instead, Fiona embraces it. It becomes her happily-ever-after.
That is a surprisingly deep message for a film that includes a scene in which an ogre makes a candle out of his own earwax.
the humor is actually really good
There’s a reason people who watched Shrek as children can rewatch it years later and suddenly realize a joke in it was definitely not age-appropriate.
The movie works on multiple levels. Kids can enjoy the comical, fairy-tale characters, while older viewers can pick up on the pop-culture references, parody, and jokes that go completely over a kid’s head.
That’s why Shrek has remained culturally relevant, even twenty-five years after its release. The jokes are ridiculous, but the movie never feels like it is desperately trying to be funny.
And, of course, there is Donkey. Need I say more? His constant enthusiasm provides the perfect contrast to Shrek’s grumpiness, and their friendship becomes one of the movie’s emotional centers.
maybe the real masterpiece was the friends we made along the way
The reason Shrek has lasted isn’t simply because it is funny or nostalgic.
It works because underneath all of its jokes, parody, and talking animals, it tells a pretty straightforward story: people are more complicated than they appear, and being loved doesn’t require you to become someone else.
Shrek doesn’t have to become handsome. Fiona doesn’t have to become human. They just have to find someone who sees them for who they actually are.
So maybe Shrek isn’t a cinematic masterpiece in the traditional, awards-season, film-critic sense.
But after twenty-five years, people are still watching it, quoting it, making memes about it, and arguing about whether the sequels are good.
And that’s a pretty good sign to me.