One of the bigger oversights on my part in the over four years of bringing you Catholic film reviews from The Legionnaire is the Shrek animated film series.  Though I do not always adhere to such unwritten rules, if you are going to look at a group of movies, you might as well start at the beginning.  Honestly, I do not care about whether I follow this protocol, but I might as well in this case.  Afterall, the original Shrek (2001) was a bit of a phenomenon.  It has something to do with the animation, or whatever.  How big did it become?  When I was a Civil War reenactor, the old man that I used to live with (who I met through the hobby) used to put a sign outside of his tent that read, “Shrick: Beware of Ogre.”  He was proud of such things, but more pointedly, it underscores how even someone like him was aware of the title character (voiced by Mike Myers), if nobody else in the production.  If that does not contextualize why they went on to make three more of these things, then nothing will.  Will I get around to the others?  Who knows?  Who cares?  In the meantime, on with the first installment.

If you know about the big, green ogre known as Shrek, even if you have not seen the movie, you will probably not be surprised that he takes a page from a princess fairytale book to wipe his bum in an outhouse in the opening scene.  We then spend the next few minutes establishing just how gross of a creature is Shrek, watching him bathe in mud and eat eyeballs, to name a few sordid activities.  Since he is alone in his swamp abode, he can do as he pleases, and he seems content to do so.  However, not everyone is happy with his existence.  Every once in a while, he has to face a pitchforks and torches mob from the nearby village coming to deal with this so-called menace.  Then again, he does use his menace to scare them away, and the problem is solved until they once again pluck up the courage to haunt him.  Their behavior is a symptom of what seems to be a growing prejudice against fairytale creatures.  In a nearby part of the woods, we see beings like Snow White’s Seven Dwarves and Pinocchio (voiced by Cody Cameron) being rounded up by order of Lord Farquaad (voiced by John Lithgow).  Among them is Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy).  The voice credit gives away what is special about this particular pack animal, but he escapes deeper into the forest before he can be taken into custody.  He has not run far when he bumps into Shrek.  Being the ridiculously Chatty Cathy that Donkey is, the normally private Shrek wants nothing to do with this uninvited guest.  Donkey is persistent, though, not simply because he is determined to make friends, but also because he fears capture.  Eventually, he wears down Shrek’s defenses and is allowed to stay.  The next morning, however, Shrek is horrified to awaken to a whole host of magical beings in front of his hut.  Donkey denies responsibility for their presence, and they explain they have all been dumped in the swamp by Lord Farquaad.  Because Shrek desires his privacy, he decides he will go and demand that they all be removed from his land.  At the same time, the power-hungry Lord Farquaad has been brought the Magic Mirror (voiced by Chris Miller) in order to be told how to become kind of the land.  Its frightened response is that he must marry a princess, following this up by showing a number of eligible members of royalty.  The one he chooses is Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz).  Yet, Lord Farquaad thinks nothing of the large dragon guarding her, and completely ignores the fact that she turns into an ogre at sunset.  What he needs is a champion to bring her to him since he is too diminutive and unheroic to do so himself.  Before the tournament to choose this person begins, up strolls Shrek.  Lord Farquaad naturally has his knights attack the so-called beast, but Shrek easily handles them.  As such, it is Shrek that is sent to fetch Princess Fiona.  Shrek agrees to go in exchange for Lord Farquaad removing the creatures squatting on his property.  Donkey and Shrek get to the castle, surrounded by a moat of lava, without any problems.  Oddly enough, it is Donkey that takes care of the fire breathing monster, using his charms to woo the scaly female.  This buys everyone enough time to reach safety before Shrek’s identity (he had been wearing a helmet during the rescue) is revealed to Princess Fiona.  This is not what she had envisaged for her first true love, which the spell that gives her the condition of being half ogre/half human stipulates she would be saved by and thus break the charm.  Shrek covers her awkwardness by telling her that he is taking her to a real prince, despite that man’s short stature.  This is satisfactory for her for the time being, but along the way a bond begins to form between her and Shrek.  Indeed, when they get to the castle, she makes up an excuse for spending more time with him.  When sunset comes, she hurries into a nearby windmill, leaving Donkey and Shrek puzzled.  It is Donkey that is the first to go in and talk to her.  When Shrek finally plucks up the courage to speak, before entering he overhears her talking about how hideous are ogres.  Thinking she is talking about him, he angrily leaves to go fetch Lord Farquaad.  In the morning, Princess Fiona emerges ready to admit her secret to Shrek.  Instead, she is greeted by Lord Farquaad and a petulant Shrek.  It is not until Shrek returns to his swamp that Donkey is finally able to get him to understand the truth.  With that, they speed to the castle thanks to Donkey’s dragon girlfriend and are able to stop the wedding just before sunset.  At that point Princess Fiona reverts to ogre form, causing an enraged Lord Farquaad to order his guards to attack.  He is conveniently eaten by the dragon and everyone lives happily ever after.

Because of the content in Shrek, it is appropriate to end my synopsis in that classic style, no?  In regards to its themes, it is a film that is ripe for the picking for a Catholic reviewer.  Yet, when it comes to examining them, it seems to me that the person most affected by its message of acceptance is not the title character, but Princess Fiona.  This makes it complicated in a couple of ways.  First, structurally speaking, it means that Shrek is not really the protagonist.  Yes, his face and name adorn all the promotional material, but his arc is not as strong as that of Princess Fiona.  At the same time, if you are looking at her from a Catholic perspective, the idea would be that she learns to be comfortable with the person God made her to be.  I doubt that our Divine origin is part of the lore of these movies, but when is that ever the case?  This is tricky to discuss as it relates to her because God did not make her to be a hybrid human-ogre.  This is the result of a magical spell that had been cast upon her.  I want this path of hers to be related to Faith because the thing that is meant to dispel that which plagues her is the clichéd “love’s first kiss.”  It is a concept I have talked about in many reviews, about how God is love.  What I appreciate about it in connection to the movie is that it reveals her true form.  What we are specifically talking about here is knowing oneself.  That can only be done through a relationship with the God that loves you more truly than any knight (or ogre) in shining (or tattered) armor.  Further, you will never completely know yourself, or God, this side of the grave, which is a hard truth to accept for many.  Like the Magic Mirror, we only see ourselves dimply in this life, and will only be made clear if we are blessed to reach Heaven and see our Creator face-to-face.  As such, the film nearly captures the essence of these ideas, but does not quite reach them.

Having said all this, it seems like the series launched by Shrek has run its creative course.  I am unmoved by this one, no matter its talk of love, and I am still unsure as to whether I will cover the others.  Still, as I discussed in the introduction, if you are going to start somewhere, it might as well be the beginning.