A vast majority of animated films with a storyline revolving around royalty usually ends with either two Monarchs joining their houses or the union between a royal and a pauper on the basis of love. This pattern has been etched into not just animations but live-action movies for years resulting in very predictable outcomes. Nevertheless some tend to break out of this bubble with a surprising plot that keeps the audience on their own their toes from start to finish. One of which happens to the movie Shrek.
The movie tells the story of an Ogre called Shrek who lives alone in an isolated swamp with a hobby of scaring humans disturbing his peaceful life. Shrek maintains this routine for years until a talking donkey named Donkey leeches into his life running from soldiers. Donkey follows Shrek home refusing to leave as he has nowhere else to go but is forced to stay outside because of his loquacious nature.
This disturbance further erupts as Shrek notices different creatures living in his swamp after being chased out of the kingdom by a cruel ruler called Lord Farquaad. Angered by this Shrek takes Donkey with him to confront lord Farquaad and claim the sole position of his property.
He arrives at the kingdom of Duloc defeats numerous soldiers and seeing that the people loved Shrek, Farquaad strikes a deal with him offering him the swamp if he can rescue princess Fiona from a castle guarded by a fearsome dragon. Shrek accepts the mission and sets out to rescue the princess with his right hand donkey.
The two set out on this adventure and after days of travelling, they finally arrive at the castle which is surrounded by a pool of lava. Shrek engages the dragon and is able to trap the beast with help from luck and a distraction from Donkey. The Ogre is able to escape the castle with the princess and the donkey with scars to show how difficult the rescue mission was.
Excited by this act of bravery, the princess pleads with Shrek to remove his helmet so that she can gaze on the handsome face of her rescuer. Shrek complies, revealing his hideous nature and tells her that he rescued her for a Lord in exchange for his swamp. Princess Fiona is shocked by the news but nevertheless follows Shrek and Donkey to meet Lord Farquaad.
As the three continue with their journey back home, Shrek and Fiona continue to bond and develop feelings for each other. However princess Fiona has a dark secret, every night she transforms into an ugly Ogre-like creature as a result of a curse which can only be broken by true love kiss.
Donkey accidentally sees her monstrous form leading into a conversation Shrek overhears outside and misinterprets as the princess calling a beast she cannot end up with. This breaks him apart, pushing him to call Lord Farquaad to come get his bride earlier than expected. Fiona and Shrek part ways on bad terms heading opposite directions, one to his swamp and the other to the sound of wedding bells.
The day of the wedding arrives, donkey is able to convince his now friend that the princess truly loves him and what he hears was a huge misunderstanding. With help from the dragon who is now in love with Donkey they head to Duloc to end the wedding. Fiona reveals her hidden form to Shrek which disgusts Farquaad, he orders his guards to arrest them but gets eaten by the dragon instead. The two love birds kiss resulting in Fiona having the permanent appearance of an Ogre.
Shrek and Fiona head back to the swamp, tied the marital knot and lived happily ever after as Ogre and wife. The movie ends with different fairy tale characters celebrating their union.
I truly love the theme of the movie that explains the fact that everybody deserves love regardless of their appearance or origin and for that alone it deserves a rating of 10.
Thank you and I hope you do enjoy this masterpiece.
Images are gotten from IMDb
