shrek christian movie review

Get news & reviews in your inbox

• Prime Video
• Documentary
• Producers Corner
• Watch Lists
• More Than A Movie Night
• It’s Dove Approved – Family Movie Trivia Game
• Dove Ratings
• Privacy Policy

Dove Review

“Shrek” has some meaningful messages such as looking on the inside of a person and not the outside. It also shows how forgiveness is necessary. However, the viewer should know there is some toilet humor in it. In fact, not far into the movie we meet the ogre Shrek, who flushes a toilet before stepping outside. He likes to eat eye balls and burp but, remember, he is an ogre after all. We get to meet some famous fairy tale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf and Snow White, and the Gingerbread Man.

The film has some humorous moments and great music and a mystery surrounding the princess. Just be aware that Shrek also uses his ear wax for candles and enjoys a meal of fried rats. Overall, it is done in good fun and kids twelve and above will love it. Maybe their parents will too.

Dove Rating Details

Some fighting; the Gingerbread Man's arms are pulled off and he is placed in milk as a means of torture; dragon eats king.

Some innuendos.

D-2; A-2; OG/OMG-2; Bu*t-2; some crudities like "Eat me."

The drinking of an unknown substance.

Some witches fly and there's talk of one who casts a spell.

More Information

Film information, dove content.

Faith Film Producer DeVon Franklin Steps in Front of the Camera for ‘Jesus Revolution’

Cyrano: Love is a Verb

Redeeming Love: Grace Rising Up Out of the Dirt

Filmmakers Highlight the Hope and Heroism in “Gi...

• The 700 Club
• Find your way to peace with God
• Send us your prayer request online
• Call The 700 Club Prayer Center at 1 (800) 700-7000 , 24 hours a day.

A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.

Need Prayer?

Sign up for e-mail updates full list.

Find Family Movies, Movie Ratings and Movie Reviews

Shrek Parent Guide

This hybrid fairy tale contains enough irreverent humor to keep audiences--and parents--upright in their seats..

What is green and crusty on the outside, but softhearted on the inside? Shrek of course! Follow the computer-animated antics of this multi-layered ogre (Mike Meyers) and his loud-mouthed donkey sidekick (Eddie Murphy) on their quest to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz).

Release date May 17, 2001

Run Time: 93 minutes

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.

Near a bubbly soupy swamp in a forest of strange creatures, lives the ogre Shrek (voiced by Mike Meyers of Saturday Night Live and Austin Powers fame). Feared and hunted by townspeople (all “normal” humans), the large ugly green being with horns for ears has grown accustomed to his solitary life… until the day when ruler of the land, Lord Farquaad (voiced by John Lithgow), decides to administer an ethnic cleansing of sorts. Rounding up the strange fairy tale characters living amongst the people, he orders them to reside in a designated area—Shrek’s peaceful swamp.

This hybrid fairy tale contains enough irreverent humor to keep audiences—and parents—upright in their seats. Shrek is the type of guy who enjoys blowing flatulent bubbles in his swamp water, and Donkey—not surprisingly—resembles Eddie Murphy after he’s been fitted with a crude humor muzzle. Then there’s the princess. Let’s just say she’s not quite what you’d expect either.

Shrek does have its laughable moments, and strengthens its theme of racial tolerance in a humorous way. Yet the bathroom humor, double entendre sexual jokes (hopefully vague enough to pass by young children), occasional cartoon style violence, and handful of mild profanities (including a synonym for “donkey”), may leave some parents wondering if the good makes up for the bad and the ugly in this movie.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Shrek rating & content info.

Why is Shrek rated PG? Shrek is rated PG by the MPAA for mild language and some crude humor.

Overall: B- A simple tale of an ugly ogre, beautiful princess, and hard hearted ruler. The writers of this computer animated adventure threw in enough original twists and spoofing comedy to make for an interesting watch. Unfortunately, they also added enough burps, flatulence, and double entendres to bring our overall grade down to a barely recommendable B-.

Violence: B- Men come to capture ogre. The Gingerbread Man (a fairy tale creature) is threatened with being drowned in milk and having his legs removed. Creatures deemed different or unusual are rounded up and sent away. Large keg of ale sprayed on attackers. Various conflicts between creatures and knights result in wrestling, punches, kicks, and hitting with chairs and other objects. One character teases another by increasing his fear of crossing a rickety bridge. Leg bones sticking out of a pair of boots seen, along with other skeletons littered about inside a dark castle. Dragon spews flames at characters. Character injures crotch. Woman stops band of men with martial arts moves. Character shot in rear with an arrow. Dragon eats a man.

Sexual Content: B Carefully positioned objects block views of Sherk’s “private” areas when shown bathing. Sexual implications in lines such as: Snow White lives with seven other men but “She’s not easy;” Gingerbread man says “Eat me;” Farquaad’s castle size is assumed to be compensating for something else. Animal character urinates on fire. One creature unknowingly kisses the backside of another. Sleep-talking male character comments about a female in his dream. Song mentions a lady’s backside. Female character accidentally ends up lying on top of male character, and a bystander asks if they would like to be alone.

Language: B At least: 6 mild profanities (one in a song, and two as a double meaning for a donkey), also one obvious mild profanity that should be in a rhyme, but isn’t said. 3 terms of Deity used as expletives. Occasional name-calling. Flatulence jokes.

Alcohol / Drug Use: B- Shrek drinks some sort of ale, and a pina colada is mentioned.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

Shrek Parents' Guide

Can you see parallel examples between the story told in Shrek and the injustices done to the Jews and other races by Adolph Hitler during World War II? How does the characterization of Lord Farquaad add to this comparison?

While we may not see big green ogres in our society today, what types of people are often misjudged or not invited to be part of mainstream community life?

The most recent home video release of Shrek movie is November 1, 2001. Here are some details…

Related home video titles:.

For other movies about people who are ostracized, see our reviews for Beauty And The Beast (suitable for young children and over), The Mighty (good for young teens and up), and The Man Without a Face or Pay It Forward (for older teens and adults).

Related news about Shrek

St. Patrick’s Day Movies

{parents:pull_quote}

Shrek the Third

Reviewed by: David Criswell, Ph.D. CONTRIBUTOR

Princes in the Bible

Kingdom of God

Donkeys in the Bible

Shrek (2001)

Shrek 2 (2004)

Shrek Forever After (2010)

Also available —Reviews of the prequels to this movie: “ Shrek ” (2001), “ Shrek 2 ” (2004), and the sequel: “ Shrek Forever After ” (2010)

“Who’s ready for Thirds?”

T he only good thing to come from the Politically Correct movement are the first two Shrek movies. Notice I said the first two “Shrek” movies. “Shrek the Third” is clearly the weakest of the trilogy. Having said that, it is better than many movies currently in the theaters, but if fans are expecting a movie on par with the previous movies, they best reduce their expectations.

“Shrek the Third” is sorely missing the touch of Andrew Adamson (who left to work on the wonderful “ Chronicles of Narnia ” films). The best part of the third outing is the underlying story of a young King Arthur. That story was written by Andrew Adamson, but the script was worked upon by no fewer than six people, and it shows. The story seems to wander around without any direction, and the jokes too often seem as if they are plucked out of a straw hat.

Take, for example, the funeral scene of the frog king. The funeral march is “Live and Let Die” from James Bond. In the context of the movie, the joke makes no sense. It is cute, but not particularly funny. This is, unfortunately, how much of the movie flows. The best part of the film was the Medieval High School where Shrek finds the young King Arthur, but sadly this only occupies roughly ten to fifteen minutes of the film. The rest of movie seems misdirected and lacks a cohesive direction.

Morally the movie has the typical crude and rude jokes which make it inappropriate for young children. There is a rather gross vomiting scene (seen in the commercials), a joke about donkey seeing Shrek’s private parts, a “butt scratching” scene, a butt crack scene, comments about wedgies, “poop,” “extreme poop,” gross ear wax, more vomiting, and the reappearance (and expanded role) of the transsexual (or at least transvestite) bar maid.

In addition, there is plenty of animated violence including a “dubbing” scene where Shrek learns to knight someone, but doesn’t quite get it right (no blood is seen)! There is also a scene of an arrow being shot into someone and various other slapstick violence which is common in the film.

From a Christian standpoint, I was probably most bothered by the promotion of feminism , which even went so far as to include a bra burning scene. The various princesses (one with a tattoo) go in to rescue Shrek with all the feminist bravado one would expect from Arnold Schwartzeneggar. Of course, it is intended as parody.

Ultimately, Shrek 3 is a disappointment. It appears that Andrew Adamson had a greater impact upon the first two films than we might have known otherwise. The failure of Shrek on many levels demonstrates that Adamson was solely missed, but, on the positive side, it is a good sign for the forthcoming Narnia films. As for Shrek 4 … Well, it will probably happen, but don’t get your hopes up. I have Shrek 1 and 2 on DVD, but will not be buying “Shrek the Third.” I can’t say that Shrek 3 is bad, but neither is it particularly good. I give it a generous B-.

Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Mild / Sex/Nudity: Minor

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers .

• Young people

SHREK THE THIRD

"deconstructing with heart".

What You Need To Know:

(BBB, Pa, Ro, H, O, L, V, S, N, A, DD, M) Light moral worldview dominates with family highly valued and children, love, goodness, trusting your talents, and taking personal responsibility promoted, plus a good deal of paganism, romanticism, humanism, and magic, usually in a humorous context; seven references to poop and butt, some burping and passing gas, and a couple of vomiting scenes; lots of cartoon slapstick violence and several jokes built off killing someone accidentally, which should not be funny; Shrek lies in bed naked and several references to sexual activity, but very lightweight; upper male nudity; reference to drinking at a bar; reference to smoking dope at boarding school; sloth condemned, lying condemned, rejecting parenthood condemned, and avoiding responsibility condemned, with family highly valued.

More Detail:

SHREK THE THIRD is the best written, plotted, and developed of the blockbusting Shrek series. A fractured, deconstructionist fairy tale, Shrek still manages to have a lot of heart, affirming family, responsibility, and doing the right thing.

The movie opens with a much maligned Prince Charming relegated to playing in a second-rate stage play at a cheap dinner theater. Frustrated by the reception of his performance and the overall state of his life, he resolves to return to Far Far Away and take back the throne, which should “by rights” have been his.

Meanwhile, at the castle, Fiona’s father, the recently transfigured Frog King, is dying. In a humorously prolonged croaking scene, the king attempts to convince Shrek he would make a good leader. Shrek has no such desire. He presses the king for a way out, only to discover that there is another in line for the throne, the young teenage Arthur, who’s away at a boarding school across the sea. Shrek, Donkey and Puss-’n-Boots set sail immediately in search of the alternate heir. Before the ship edges out of sight, Fiona cries to the departing Shrek that she is pregnant. Shrek, mortified, cannot imagine being a father. He is, after all, an ogre.

While Shrek is off in search of Arthur, Prince Charming returns with a band of storybook villains to take over Far Far Away. As part of his plan, Prince Charming takes captive Fiona, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, the Queen, and one of Cinderella’s no-longer wicked, very masculine stepsisters. Far Far Away, overrun by looting and villainy, is brought completely under Charming’s control.

Meanwhile, across the sea, Shrek finds Arthur at Worchestershire boarding school, ever the loser and picked on by everyone. At first overjoyed with his newfound privilege, Arthur soon rejects Shrek’s offer, for fear of the responsibilities of kingship. In an attempt to drag Arthur back to Far Far Away by force, Shrek, Arthur, and the crew crash on an island where they meet the aged-hippy Merlin, get attacked by a musically talented Captain Hook, and are transported magically back to the fairy tale kingdom. But, do they make it in time to save the kingdom and stop Prince Charming’s villainy? Does right defeat wrong, in this deconstructed morality tale? And who, in the end, really will gain the crown?

Like each of the SHREK movies, SHREK THE THIRD walks a very thin tightrope. On one hand, it makes fun of almost everything (fairytales, fairies, emotionalism, rationalism, psychotherapy, majorities, minorities, schools, and magic), but on the other hand, it supports family, children, love, goodness, trusting your talents, and taking personal responsibility. Thus, in some strange way, although it was intended to destroy fairytales, the movie ends very much fitting the genre.

While SHREK 2 started slowly, SHREK THE THIRD is funny from the opening scene. A great deal of thought has gone into its production, and the movie is carefully layered to appeal to the old and the young, in the highest style of animated comedy. Indeed, it is quite a brilliant movie.

Some of the humor, however, is mean spirited. There are several instances in which Prince Charming and Shrek injure or kill other actors by mistake but without recrimination. This cavalier attitude toward life was disconcerting. On the other hand, there appears to be a pro-life message about having babies (go figure). There are also gender-bending jokes, which could be confusing to young minds, and, as such, Movieguide(r) urges caution. That said, this is one of the funniest, best-made movies we have seen in some time, and it deserves commendation, especially as most sequels usually are mediocre at best.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.

Things you buy through our links may earn  Vox Media  a commission.

Troll on a Roll

Shrek , which is partly derived from William Steig’s illustrated children’s book about a gruff, kindhearted ogre, continues a welcome trend in animation: The script, instead of being what we tolerate in order to savor the visuals, is a delight all by itself. This trend is particularly rampant in the field of computer animation, notably the  Toy Story  movies and, to a lesser extent,  Antz,  as well as live-action movies, such as the  Babe  films, which include computer-animated techniques. There’s a marvelous slapstick irreverence to the script for  Shrek,  written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, which adults, perhaps more so than the children they accompany, will appreciate. Just about all the famous fairy tales are sent up, as well as everything from  The Hunchback of Notre Dame  to  The Dating Game.  We’re watching a celebration of the nutty new ways in which our pop memories can be recycled and made sport of.

The animation, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, is often on the same wriggly, giggly level as the script, although the more “human” characters, such as Princess Fiona and Lord Farquaad, are less interesting than the animals and creatures – a common pitfall in animated films of all types. Among the celebrity voices, best are Mike Myers’s Scots-accented Shrek and Eddie Murphy’s Donkey, who is so funny and so gloriously an emanation of the actor that, afterward, you might make the mistake of thinking Murphy was actually in the movie, braying at full comic throttle.

• movie review
• eddie murphy

Most Viewed Stories

• Cinematrix No. 41: April 22, 2024
• Is The Tortured Poets Department Really About Matty Healy?
• The Ending of Late Night With the Devil Flubs the Punch Line
• Is Nothing Sacred? Rihanna Has Changed Her Iconic Profile Photo
• A Hidden Sexual-Assault Scandal at the New York Philharmonic
• The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Taylor Swift and Matty Healy’s Relationship
• 132 Gut Reactions to Every Track on Taylor Swift’s Double Album

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

• DVD & Streaming

Shrek the Third

• Animation , Comedy , Kids , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Voices of Mike Myers as Shrek; Eddie Murphy as Donkey; Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona; Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots; Rupert Everett as Prince Charming; Justin Timberlake as Artie; Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian; John Cleese as King Harold; Eric Idle as Merlin; John Krasinkski as Lancelot; Ian McShane as Captain Hook; Cheri Oteri as Sleeping Beauty; Amy Poehler as Snow White; Amy Sedaris as Cinderella; Maya Rudolph as Rapunzel; Regis Philbin as Mabel; Larry King as Doris

Home Release Date

• Chris Miller, Raman Hui

Distributor

Movie review.

The world’s most famous ornery ogre is back for another misadventure. As the story opens, we find Shrek pining for his stinky swamp; he aspires to nothing more than a quiet life with his wife, Princess Fiona. Palace existence, with its stringent formalities, has become unbearable. And despite Shrek’s best intentions, he’s forever accidentally causing havoc of all kinds.

Things go from bad to worse when the lime-green lug’s frog-shaped father-in-law, King Harold, erm, croaks. The autocratic amphibian’s parting wish? That Shrek would become the next ruler of Far Far Away. Before passing, however, the dying dignitary leaves the door open for one other heir to the throne: a distant relative named Arthur (aka Artie).

Shrek pounces upon that possibility with ogre-sized zeal. With his indispensable sidekicks Puss in Boots and Donkey in tow, Shrek departs for the distant land of Worcestershire in search of the would-be king. And as he sets sail, Fiona informs the adventurous ogre that he’s going to be a father … a revelation that turns Shrek’s thoughts and dreams upside down.

Meanwhile, the ever-scheming Prince Charming sees his chance for twisted redemption. Rallying such disaffected villains as Captain Hook, Snow White’s Evil Queen, the Headless Horseman, Cyclops and others into an angry army, Charming successfully stages a coup, imprisoning Fiona and her high-maintenance posse of princesses (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel and … Doris), as well as Queen Lillian. Charming then dispatches Hook to track down Shrek and the realm’s future king (who turns out to be a wimpy, self-absorbed high school student). That sets the stage for a climatic, dramatic and comedic melee that will determine who lives happily ever after in the land of Far Far Away.

Positive Elements

Like the first two films in this franchise ( Shrek and Shrek 2 ), Shrek the Third delivers strong messages about family, love and self-acceptance. On his deathbed, King Harold tells his daughter that her love for Shrek “taught me so much.” The king who once rejected Shrek now can say, “I’m proud to call you my son.” Likewise, Donkey is full of affection for his four dragon/donkey babies (he married a female dragon in the last film); he tells them he loves them, and they reciprocate.

Shrek is terrified of fatherhood (“No one ever says, ‘Sweet as an ogre'”) but gradually warms up to the idea. Before the birth, he gets in some dad practice relating to Artie, who’s a difficult teen. Artie talks about the struggle of growing up fatherless (his dad abandoned him), and Shrek relates the “difficulties” he had in that area (“My father tried to eat me”). The ogre encourages Artie to be his own man (“People thought I was a monster. I believed them. … Ignore people who call you names, and trust who you are”). It’s a message the adolescent later reshapes to convince the film’s villains to switch sides. “Just because people treat you like a villain doesn’t mean you are one,” he says. “The thing that matters most is what you think of yourself.” Under Shrek’s tutelage and influence, Artie gradually grows from being a pushover to someone self-assured enough to be king.

Still on the parenting theme, both Shrek and Fiona later split the tasks of raising their offspring. And even Cyclops says of his daughter, “Who would have thought a monster like me deserved something as special as you?”

To save Artie’s life when Charming is on the verge of killing him, Shrek confesses some important things that he’s lied to the boy about, which indirectly preserves Artie’s life long enough for Fiona and her princesses to ride to the rescue.

Spiritual Elements

After they find Artie and convince him to be king, Shrek and Co. are shipwrecked and losing hope when they meet Merlin the magician. He mentions the need to “discover your divine promise,” stokes a magic fire and says, “Look into the fire of truth and tell me what you see.” Shrek sees a baby carriage but lies, “I see a rainbow pony,” while Artie sees images of a father bird that abandons a baby bird, which represents his own life. An errant spell from the senile old wizard then transports Shrek and his crew back to Far Far Away … and swaps Donkey’s and Puss in Boots’ souls in the process (a mistake the wizard later mostly rectifies).

Sexual Content

Mabel and Doris are Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters, but Regis Philbin and Larry King voice their characters, giving them a drag-queen feel. That makes this line from Doris sound creepy: “I know he’s a jerk, but that Charming makes me hotter than July.”

Other scenes go out of their way to expose effeminate qualities in male characters. Shrek’s royal outfit includes lipstick applied by a stereotypically portrayed effeminate male servant (who later reappears as Charming’s stage manager in a play). A character thinks that Artie is (or looks like) a girl. Shrek compliments Charming on his leotard, then asks if it comes in men’s sizes too.

Shrek and Fiona kiss. Donkey pulls the covers off Shrek and Fiona’s bed, revealing an apparently naked ogre. We see only his stomach, but the shocked Donkey blurts, “You really need to get yourself a pair of jammies.” A princess preparing to go into battle removes her bra (offscreen) and burns it. Others rip off sleeves and skirt hems before combat. One lifts her dress and bares a leg to distract a soldier. (The joke is that in the next instant the ogling men come face to face with one of the ugly stepsisters.) All of the princesses and the queen show a bit of cleavage. Charming’s invading forces changes the name of “Ye Olde Bootery” to “Hooters” by slapping an H and an S on the sign.

Shrek jokes about not knowing where babies come from, and Puss in Boots begins to explain, “When a man has a certain feeling for a woman, a powerful urge sweeps over him…” Shrek cuts him off, but Donkey admits he doesn’t know where babies come from (even though he has four).

Violent Content

Several clashes between Charming’s villains and our heroes include all manner of slapstick violence (though the rogue prince’s takeover of Far Far Away is a bit more intense as the baddies fly into town on broomsticks, then trash it). Donkey’s dragon-wife grabs one invader in her mouth, then tosses him. When the princesses come to the rescue, Snow White commands forest creatures to attack evil guardian trees.

More seriously, it’s implied that Charming was ready to kill Artie. And in rehearsals for Charming’s play, two people playing the part of Shrek are apparently killed (we see the body of one being pulled off the stage). It’s suggested that Captain Hook use his hook to “do a number” on somebody’s face. One of the ugly stepsisters decks the other. We see Artie being bullied at school. The queen is held hostage with a sword at her throat. For a few moments it appears as though Shrek has been impaled.

Jousting, head-butting and other prone-to-injury activities do indeed end in injury. Shrek’s antics sink a ship and set the castle on fire. And an unfortunate person he’s knighting apparently gets nailed (offscreen) with his sword. Donkey intentionally kicks Shrek in the crotch. Babies inflate frogs like balloons.

Crude or Profane Language

Several times, dialogue suggests profanity without actually going there. In a thick accent Shrek calls King Harold his “frog-king dad-in-law.” Donkey asks, “What in the shistershire kind of place is this?” Donkey also begins but doesn’t finish the phrase, “What the…” And after he switches bodies with Puss in Boots, he exclaims, “How in the Hans Christian Anderson am I supposed to parade around in these boots?” The captain of Shrek’s ship says, “You, my friend, are royally…” before the final word is cut off by a foghorn. Lobbed insults include “dork,” “loser,” “freak,” “stupid,” idiot,” “fool,” “moron” and “twit.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Two students emerge from a VW van-like stagecoach with smoke pouring out of it. We’re left to figure out what kind of smoke it is as they laugh and joke about burning “frankincense and myrrh.” Reeling from the body-switch, Donkey blurts, “I haven’t been on a trip like that since college.”

Prince Charming goes to a rough-looking tavern to recruit his army, where he orders a round of Fuzzy Navels for everyone. Puss in Boots looks forward to an “ice-cold pitcher of mojitos,” a traditional Cuban cocktail. After Charming’s takeover of Far Far Away, a bar sign advertises, “Mean Mead.” We see a drunken man stumbling around on the street.

Other Negative Elements

Visual and verbal references to all kinds of bodily functions pop up frequently. Baby poop, dirty diapers, stretch marks, belching, flatulence, projectile vomiting, trimming nose hairs, itchy bottoms, ear wax, body odor and morning breath all receive the comedic treatment. A baby passes gas as one of Donkey’s baby dragons breathes fire—causing an even bigger explosion. A terrified gingerbread cookie has a small piece of pink candy pop out behind him. Mention is made of student bullies who shove others’ heads in “chamber pots.” High schoolers talk about underpants and wedgies, and they mock a teacher named Mr. Primbottom.

Shrek imagines himself naked in front of an audience of babies. (We see the top part of his bare bottom.) Obnoxious adolescents tell Shrek that he looks like a “giant mutant Leprechaun” and affix an “I Suck-eth” sign to Donkey’s behind. Snow White, who sports a tattoo on her upper bicep, gives Fiona one of her (slovenly) dwarfs as a baby shower gift.

If you’ve seen either previous Shrek film, you already have a good idea of what’s on offer here. It’s another cockeyed combination of genuinely positive themes and rollicking storytelling regularly interspersed with what feels like unnecessary allusions to sexuality, drugs and bodily functions.

Some of those moments are merely silly and innocent, such as Shrek’s baby making bubbles in the bathtub. But this well-told tale isn’t helped by its inclusion of a burning bra, mixed drinks, hints at drug use and “playful” approximations of swear words. And then there’s the not-so-subtle running joke about men getting in touch with their feminine side while women get down to the business of battling the baddies. These characters—and the actors who play them—are funny enough without such cheap gags and cheap shots.

Many, if not most, of Shrek the Third ‘s edgiest jokes will sail right over the heads of its youngest viewers. They won’t know what in the world is going on when two high schoolers role out of a smoke-filled carriage. And yet…

Most kids today are growing up on a media diet that consistently portrays drinking, drugs and sexual ambiguity as humorous non-issues—even if in relatively minor ways. The message is that it’s all normal stuff that we don’t really need to think or worry much about. In the end, it’s just fodder for a good laugh, just part of the comedic background.

Which is unfortunate when there are so many good laughs to be had in Shrek the Third , and praiseworthy messages about love, honor, doing the right thing and self-respect to boot. (Of the Puss variety, naturally.)

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

Latest Reviews

Spy x Family Code: White

Villains Inc.

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Weekly reviews straight to your inbox.

Shrek Review

29 Jun 2001

An ugly, big, green bloke and his smartarse donkey sidekick rescue a prissy princess from a lovelorn dragon for a self-obsessed lordling lacking in stature? And it’s a clever-clever parody-type thing? An animated fairy tale all about animated fairy tales? Tee-hee, how postmodern. Yes, but it works a treat.

Ever since Toy Story shookthe animation rafters, CGI’s awe-inspiring intricacies have become a matter of course. So, naturally, the work in this inverted fairy tale is a knock-out: humans with proper human faces, not bubble heads, actual furry fur and landscapes that hover delightfully between lush, 3-D, Oz-like backdrops and photo-realistic video game aesthetics. Yet it’s not the dazzle factor that impresses so much with Shrek , as the directors’ flare for storytelling on a sumptuous visual level, letting the script (based on William Steig’s book) do the talking.

And it’s one joyous miracle of a script (how is it that only animation writers seem able to do great comedy anymore?) doing the yakking. This is more than simply ex-Disney honcho Katzenberg taking sly potshots at his former employers; it’s a full-scale parody of the Mousedom’s chirpy ethic of old. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella , every Andersen/Grimm fantasy is caught in a fusillade of affectionate piss-take (Farquaad’s rigid kingdom is a direct dig at Disneyland).

Like the Zucker spoof-principals, the film teems with incidental genius - we defy you not to bust a gut laughing at Farquaad’s interrogation of the Gingerbread Man, or the untimely arrival of the Three Blind Mice at Shrek’s hovel, or Robin Hood’s posse Riverdancing. Don’t panic, though, this doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of the whirlwind of gags, hinting that repeat visits may be in order.

Shrek genuinely offers something for all ages: fart jokes for the tots, WWF-style bouts and Matrix skits for the teens, while Eddie Murphy’s hysterical, jabbermouthed Donkey’s stream of psychobabbled relationship talk - for defensive ogre and attitudinal princess - is hip for grown-ups. Murphy hasn’t touched these comedy heights for years; his chorus of city-literate jive never allows the movie a flat moment.

There are weaknesses. Myers gives Shrek an inconclusive Scottish accent and seems strangely confined playing the straight guy. And when the story finally begins to wrap itself up, the counter-classic edge succumbs to predictable, sturdy, moral outcomes. Not to worry too much, though - the movie crashes out with a musical number boasting Donkey (with shades)’s soul-ribbed version of The Monkees’ I’m A Believer. Pinocchio this is not.

Related Articles

Movies | 07 07 2021

Movies | 29 09 2019

Movies | 06 11 2018

Movies | 25 05 2017

Movies | 09 08 2016

Movies | 25 02 2014

Movies | 19 10 2011

Movies | 05 03 2010

Christian Movie Reviews - Family Friendly Entertainment

• BROWSE TOPICS X
• Devotionals
• Newsletters

Top-Notch Humor, Animation Mark Shrek the Third

• Lisa Rice Contributing Writer
• Updated Nov 15, 2007

DVD Release Date:  November 13, 2007 Theatrical Release Date: May 18, 2007 Rating:   PG (for some crude humor, suggestive content and swashbuckling action) Genre:   Animation/Drama Run Time: 93 min. Director: Chris Miller and Ramen Hui Voice Talents of: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, Eric Idle, Justin Timberlake,

What does an ogre do when he really doesn’t want to be king?  He searches the world for the next logical relative and coerces him to return to the land of Far Far Away and assume his royal position. 

It is Shrek’s quest for Arthur (“Arty”) and the challenges he faces getting him on the throne that make for a fun ride in Shrek the Third .  With cleverly-written, well-voiced, all-star humor and impeccable animation, this latest fairy tale movie is marred only by a few typical Hollywood worldview elements and some scatological humor.

The story begins with the frog king ( John Cleese ) dying, and even his death is hilarious, with him gagging and choking and passing out, only to come back again three times to utter short, meaningful quips to his family.  It turns out that he wants Shrek ( Mike Myers ) to be king but is willing for a distant relative, young Arthur ( Justin Timberlake ), to take the throne, if necessary.  Shrek, who is extremely uncomfortable in the world of royal palaces, tight, kingly outfits, wigs, makeup, and formality, thinks that a replacement is definitely necessary and sets out to find the teenage heir.

The little team does find Arty, who happens to be an unpopular, oft-bullied teen at a hilarious medieval high school.  Shrek convinces him that the frog king specifically asked for Arthur to take over the Kingdom of Far Far Away, so the young lad finally complies, and the motley group sets out for home.

It will take some honest communication and teamwork, the quick growing up of a kid, and the clever work of some princesses who haven’t had to fight before—in order for Shrek and his team to spoil Charming’s plans and get the right man, or kid, on the throne.

This third time around, Shrek   is very funny, grand in animation and casting and generally well written. There are many good “laugh out loud” moments in the film, especially at the medieval high school, whose kids sound an awful lot like America’s teens (“Just say nay” to drugs).  Many extra touches were added to each scene to give them that extra boost of humor and entertainment.

Regrettably, sometimes Hollywood pushes that envelope a bit too far, though they’re subtle about it.  For instance, one of the “princesses” is a big, ugly “girl” with a deep, man-sounding voice, who says, “That (Prince) Charming makes me hotter than July.”  And there are guys who are effeminate as well.  There are also plenty of depictions of vomiting, burping, passing gas, scratching rears, etc. And there’s a needless portrayal of alcohol.  Prince Charming goes to a bar to recruit his bad guys and orders a round of fuzzy navels for all (an alcoholic drink made with Peach Schnapps). 

The movie does address the common problem of children and the “father issues” they have when they’re abandoned or overlooked.  Many movies are addressing this issue now, even recent animations like  Curious George and Chicken Little .  It’s just that Hollywood usually gives incomplete answers for such dilemmas.  In this case, the theme is “The thing that matters most is what you think of yourself.”  Well yes, but it takes some dealing and healing with God to get there.   Overall, this skillfully made, high budget animation will very likely clean up at the box office as it entertains the masses this summer.  Enjoy the laughs, but always, always talk to your kids about the worldview elements and how they stack up to Scripture.

• Violence:   Mild, cartoonish, slapstick violence.   

Recently On Movie Reviews

Editor's Picks

Our Most-Read Reviews

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Crosswalk App
• California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information
• California - CCPA Notice

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Challengers Link to Challengers
• Abigail Link to Abigail
• Arcadian Link to Arcadian

New TV Tonight

• The Jinx: Season 2
• Knuckles: Season 1
• THEM: The Scare: Season 2
• Velma: Season 2
• The Big Door Prize: Season 2
• Secrets of the Octopus: Season 1
• Dead Boy Detectives: Season 1
• Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story: Season 1
• We're Here: Season 4

Most Popular TV on RT

• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Ripley: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• Under the Bridge: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• A Gentleman in Moscow: Season 1
• Parasyte: The Grey: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Under the Bridge Link to Under the Bridge
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

The Best TV Seasons Certified Fresh at 100%

Best TV Shows of 2024: Best New Series to Watch Now

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

Weekend Box Office Results: Civil War Earns Second Victory in a Row

Deadpool & Wolverine : Release Date, Trailer, Cast & More

• Trending on RT
• Rebel Moon: Part Two - The Scargiver
• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
• Play Movie Trivia

Shrek Reviews

No All Critics reviews for Shrek.

Shrek Review

The film is extremely funny and although it is criticized by many for having too much grown-up humor in it, this film does deal with those jokes with class and creativity.

In this adult fairy tale, Shrek (Mike Myers) is an ogre who lives in a swamp that he calls home and isolates himself from everyone. Suddenly his home is shattered by an invasion of fairy talel characters that have been kicked out of their land by Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). Shrek makes a deal with the Lord to slay a dragon and rescue one beautiful princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a dragon with a nasty temper in return for his land back. He soon embarks on a journey with his new donkey pal (Eddie Murphy). Along the way, Shrek learns about friendship and falls in love with the princess.

The film is extremely funny and although it is criticized by many for having too much grown-up humor in it, this film does deal with those jokes with class and creativity. This film appears to be targeting young audience, however it is more of a film for older viewers. Although, Shrek can easily be viewed by the entire family. Children would not understand the subtext, and adults will get the inside jokes.

In terms of the cast, you could not ask for a greater team. Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy certainly steal the show. The donkey (Murphy) is simply irresistible with his charming ways and talkative humor.

The film is entirely CGI animation, but many of the scenes look so much like live action, that it is actually quite terrifying. And not only can the audience enjoy great animated views, but they also get a chance to experience wonderful music (the soundtrack is excellent). Pretty much every single song is likable.

Shrek is certainly one of the funniest, if not the best films of this year. This movie is charming, funny, entertaining and ensures a good time.

Shrek review: "The most likeable, light-hearted fairytale comedy since The Princess Bride"

GamesRadar+ Verdict

While it's not the relentless joke-flinger it could have been, and while the plot could have done with a few more set-pieces, the combination of amazing (yet restrained) animation and perfectly toned voice performances ensures DreamWork's second CG-movie is a worthy follow-up to Antz.

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Like most fairytales, this one begins "Once upon a time...", with the hand of an unseen reader turning the pages of a beautifully illustrated storybook. Unlike most fairy tales, however, that hand belongs to the ogre, Shrek (Mike Myers), who promptly rips out a page and uses it as toilet paper.

You might think that pretty much sets the tone for the movie but, while it does have its fair share of fart, poo, and belch jokes (c'mon, it stars Mike Myers), Shrek is, surprisingly, a fairly conventional family-orientated fantasy.

Not that that's a problem, mind you s- if you don't have a lump in your throat come the climax then someone should pull your powercord, you cold, emotionless robot. But you can't help feeling that DreamWorks ' team of writers haven't made as much of the potentially Disney -ribbing material as they could have. Sure, Pinocchio is dismissed as a "possessed toy", but once our monsterish hero is off to save the princess, the winky-wink references occur with far less frequency.

Yet there's no denying that the monster-as-hero device has 90-odd-minutes worth of entertainment mileage, and the delivery of the story's moral is handled well enough to avoid tweeness. This is largely thanks to the impressive triple act of Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz.

Even though he's hoofing the same animal-sidekick territory here as he did in Mulan, Murphy dominates the dialogue, portraying a donkey who's as motormouthed as he's supposed to be stubborn, the perfect foil to Myers' anti-social, Scots-accented Shrek (quite why Myers insists on repeatedly foisting this fake-Caledonian twang on us is a mystery, but, what the hell, it works well enough). Diaz, meanwhile, reinforces her game-for-a-laugh reputation as Princess Fiona, even playing along with a brief skit on Charlie's Angels. And John Lithgow? Well, he's great as diminutive dastard Lord Farquaad (don't say it too quickly, kids!), but it's a crying shame he's shunted back into Bit-part Land by a plot that largely excludes him.

As important as the cast, of course, is the look of the film – although, given the quantum-leaping developments in computer animation, it's far too tempting to let yourself be distracted by attention to detail or by worrying about how realistic it is when you should just be sitting back and enjoying the ride. Suffice to say that Shrek looks perfect enough for you to forget that you're watching something computer-generated: every tree sways as it should, every blade of grass and strand of hair wafts accordingly, and the characters themselves – especially Fiona – nestle comfortably between the movie's storybook style and photo-realistic convincingness.

Which all means you can sink into your seat and just lap up what has to be the most likeable, light-hearted fairytale comedy since The Princess Bride.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

Daisy Ridley thinks filming her new Rey Star Wars movie will feel very weird: "I’m in a very different place"

Mad Max prequel Furiosa was originally developed as an anime spin-off, and has been ready for 15 years

Two Valheim players spent 1,000 hours building their own RPG inside the survival game

Most Popular

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Shrek , a screwball fable from debuting directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, also looks good enough to justify some preening. Based on a children’s book by William Steig, the film represents a new peak in computer animation from PDI/ DreamWorks — the folks who brought you Antz . But this time they’ve added humans to the mix. Shrek, voiced by Mike Myers with the same Scottish burr he gave Fat Bastard in the last Austin Powers flick, is a big, green, stinking ogre who sticks close to his home in the swamps to avoid people who call him a big, green, stinking ogre. But then the badass Lord Farquaad (voiced by John Lithgow), a three-foot-tall bully with a giant ego, demands that Shrek rescue Farquaad’s feisty intended, Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz), from a fire-breathing lady dragon who has her mojo going for Shrek’s pal Donkey (brayed to comic perfection by Eddie Murphy). Insiders will tell you that Farquaad is DreamWorks chief Jeffrey Katzenberg’s revenge on his former Disney boss Michael Eisner. What, just because Farquaad’s kingdom is a theme park with turnstiles and his subjects include Pinocchio , Cinderella and Snow White ? Forget the in-jokes, the moral messages about beauty being skin-deep (No! Really?) and the rock soundtrack. By the time Smash Mouth sing the Monkees’ hit “I’m a Believer,” you’ll be a believer, too. What matters about Shrek is the wonder of the photorealistic animation — only God can make a tree, but a million digital polygons come damn close — the humor of the storytelling and the way the characters touch your heart without making you puke. Cannes judges might blanch at the product tie-ins (green ketchup from Heinz — puh-leese!), but Shrek is a world-class charmer that could even seduce the Academy when it hands out the first official animation Oscar next year. A hermit hero whose farts kill fish, the first smart ass to talk onscreen since Ace Ventura , a hidden dragon of a princess who sings off-key and a villain based on Disney’s CEO — what’s not to like?

Dakota Fanning's Talking Bird Is Trying to Warn Her in New Trailer for 'The Watchers'

• Tweet Tweet
• By Jon Blistein

'Power' Documentary Trailer Traces the History of Policing in the U.S.

• People vs The Police
• By Kalia Richardson

'Deadpool & Wolverine' Trailer: What Could Go Wrong With These Two Together?

• Claw & Order
• By Kory Grow

10 Very Important Things I Learned From Watching 'Rebel Moon: Part 2 — The Scargiver'

• MOVIE REVIEW
• By David Fear

'Sesame Street' Writers Avoid Strike With Last-Minute Agreement

• Sesame Strike
• By Kalia Richardson and Ethan Millman

Most Popular

The rise and fall of gerry turner's stint as abc's first 'golden bachelor', which new taylor swift songs are about matty healy, joe alwyn or travis kelce breaking down 'tortured poets department' lyric clues, prince william’s bond with his in-laws sheds a light on his 'chilly' relationship with these royals, college football ‘super league’ pitch deck details breakaway plan, you might also like, harry and meghan, duke and duchess of sussex, name kyle boulia as deputy press secretary, getting ready with mia moretti at coachella: the dj talks going sheer in balmain, katy perry’s pizza bikini merch and fashion’s ‘codependent’ relationship with music, the best yoga mats for any practice, according to instructors, for ‘seven’ restoration, david fincher went back and ‘kissed in some of the city’, alexis ohanian’s 776 foundation invests in women’s sports bar.

Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

Verify it's you

Please log in.

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, ogre and ogre again.

Now streaming on:

"Shrek the Third" is a damped-down return to the Kingdom of Far Far Away, lacking the comic energy of the first brilliant film and not measuring up to the second. From the thrills of dragon-slaying and damsel-rescuing, Shrek's challenges have been reduced to a career decision: Should he become the king?

The movie is as visually enchanting as the first two in the series, and the big green ogre (voice of Mike Myers ) is as gentle and lovable, but the movie settles for action that it trusts is funny, instead of aiming for comedy itself. Another peculiarity is that the plot will probably not be engaging for younger audience members, who understand dragons but don't care that uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Shrek spends too much time in lachrymose conversation with his bride Fiona (voice of Cameron Diaz ) and pondering the challenge of fatherhood, and not enough time being an ogre.

Indeed, Shrek is the only character in the movie who makes a big deal about his ogrehood. The king and queen (voices of John Cleese and Julie Andrews ) have long since embraced their son-in-law, and on his deathbed, the frog king reveals that Shrek is an heir to the throne — one of two, including the feckless Artie (voice of pop star Justin Timberlake ). Shrek demurs, preferring life back in the swamp in what Fiona describes as his "vermin-filled shack."

Why would Fiona, raised as a princess, accept life in such a dreary mire of despond? Recall from " Shrek " (2001) that she was a conventional princess only by day, and became an ogre after nightfall. When she was rescued from marriage to Lord Farquaad with Shrek's kiss, she became an ogre full-time. Before that she was a human, I guess, although her father was a frog. Inter-species reproduction is so common in Far Far Away that it makes irrelevant such questions as whether Kermit and Miss Piggy ever had sex. Remember that the dragon and Donkey fell in love in the first film. For someone like me who has never understood how birds and snakes do it, thoughts of their marital adventures boggles the mind.

Back again this time are the two supporting stars from the earlier films, Donkey (voice of Eddie Murphy ) and Puss in Boots (voice of Antonio Banderas ). But they're reduced to being friends and traveling partners and are never really foregrounded. At one point, magically, they switch bodies and talk in each other's voices, but that's what it amounts to: They talk in each other's voices. Such a thing is not intrinsically funny, unless it is plot or character-driven. Little really depends on it or comes from it, except for a weak little sight gag at the end. Since Murphy's vocal riffs and improvisations have been so inspired earlier in the series, we want more of him this time, not less.

Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and Puss have to sail to the land of Worcestershire to find Artie, and also encounter Prince Charming (voice of Rupert Everett ), who is reduced from princehood to (in an opening scene) performing in dinner theater. Fairly arbitrary developments produce a team of heroines (Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty) who are sort of Charlie's Angels, I guess, although they provide the movie with too many characters and not enough for them to do. In the first film, they were a sly Dreamworks dig at Disney and were dumped, as obsolete, in Shrek's private swamp.

Indeed, the movie practices such economy of characters that the Gingerbread Man and the Three Blind Mice turn up again — unwanted, if you ask me. What's the use of Three Blind Mice if you can't see them run? And although I have been trained to accept talking animals, living pastries fail to engage me.

I learn from Variety that there will be a fourth "Shrek" and a Broadway musical, and I hope both return for their inspiration to the original "Shrek." That film did so much with the outsider status of an ogre, and Shrek's painful uncertainties about his role in non-ogre society. It involved intolerance and prejudice and courage, and had real stakes. And it was funny. And had great action scenes, like Shrek's rescue of Fiona. Now everybody in the Land of Far Far Away acts as if we (and they) have seen the first two films.

The movie's always a pleasure to watch for its skilled animation. But it lacks truly interesting challenges. It makes the mistake of thinking slapstick action is funny for its own sake, a mistake made by a lot of Saturday-morning TV cartoons. True, characters zooming and bouncing around are easy to write because no creative invention is required to set them in motion. But so what?

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Now playing

The Synanon Fix

Brian tallerico.

Dad & Step-Dad

Carlos aguilar.

Knox Goes Away

Robert daniels.

Simon Abrams

Peter Sobczynski

Film Credits

Shrek the Third (2007)

Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots

Eddie Murphy as Donkey

Rupert Everett as Prince Charming

Julie Andrews as The Queen

John Cleese as The King

Mike Myers as Shrek

Justin Timberlake as Artie

Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona

• Peter S. Seaman
• Jeffrey Price

Directed by

• Chris Miller

Latest blog posts

Ebertfest Film Festival Over the Years

The 2024 Chicago Palestine Film Festival Highlights

Man on the Moon Is Still the Cure for the Biopic Blues

Part of the Solution: Matthew Modine on Acting, Empathy, and Hard Miles

• Movies & TV
• Featured Categories

Image Unavailable

• Sorry, this item is not available in
• Image not available
• To view this video download Flash Player

Shrek 4-Movie Collection - 4K Ultra HD + Digital [4K UHD]

• Prime Video $29.99

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Product Description

Get the greatest fairytale never told with all 4 Shrektacular films featuring the voice talents of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy! A hilariously hideous ogre rescues a feisty princess in Shrek, meets his royal in-laws in Shrek 2, rules the kingdom in Shrek the Third, and finds his world turned upside-down in Shrek Forever After. It's an ogre-sized collection of fun!

• Includes 4K UHD, Blu-ray and a digital copy of Shrek 4-Movie Collection (Subject to expiration. Go to NBCUCodes.com for details.)
• Features High Dynamic Range (HDR10) for Brighter, Deeper, More Lifelike Color
• Shrek's Interactive Journey: I
• Spotlight on Donkey
• Secrets of Shrek
• Deleted Scenes
• Shrek in The Swamp Karaoke Dance Party
• Baha Men, "Best Years of Our Lives"
• Smash Mouth "I'm a Believer"
• Shrek The Musical "What's Up Duloc?"
• Commentary with Director Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and Producer Aron Warner
• Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Party
• Far Far Away Idol
• Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos
• The Ghost of Lord Farquaad
• Scared Shrekless
• Thriller Night
• The Pig Who Cried Werewolf
• Shrek the Halls
• Donkey's Caroling Christmas-tacular
• Shrek's Yule Log
• The Adventures of Puss in Boots Episode 1: Hidden
• The Adventures of Puss in Boots Episode 2: Sphinx
• The Adventures of Puss in Boots Episode 3: Brothers
• The Adventures of Puss in Boots Episode 4: Duchess
• The Adventures of Puss in Boots Episode 5: Adventure
• Spotlight on Puss in Boots
• Secrets of Shrek 2
• Music Videos
• Commentary by Producer Aron Warner and Editor Mike Andrews
• Commentary by Directors Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon
• Spotlight on Fiona
• Secrets of Shrek the Third
• How To Be Green
• Spotlight on Shrek
• Secrets of Shrek Forever After
• Conversation with the Cast
• The Tech of Shrek Forever After
• Shrek the Musical
• "Darling I Do" Music Video
• Holiday Bonus
• Feature Commentary with Director Mike Mitchell, Head of Story Walt Dohrn and Producers Gina Shay and Teresa Cheng

Product details

• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.6 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches; 1.1 Pounds
• Director ‏ : ‎ Various
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Subtitled, 4K
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 6 hours and 11 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ June 11, 2024
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Various
• Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ French, Spanish
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ French, Spanish
• Language ‏ : ‎ French (DTS 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D1W3F2RV
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 5

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl. After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl. After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.

• Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
• Tyler Gillett
• Stephen Shields
• Melissa Barrera
• Dan Stevens
• Alisha Weir
• 81 User reviews
• 119 Critic reviews
• 63 Metascore

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

The Cast of 'Abigail' Test Their Vampire IQ

More like this.

Did you know

• Trivia Angus Cloud 's final role before his passing in July 2023. Although production wasn't completed until months after his death due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Cloud still managed to film all of his scenes before production was shut down.
• Goofs Unless Abigail had recently gone on a murder binge of truly epic proportions, it would be impossible for all the dozens of bodies at the pool that Sammy falls into, to be all so fresh, and for all of them to be seemingly in the same state of decomposition specifically if they have been sitting in a pool of water.

Abigail : [from trailer] What can I say? I like playing with my food.

• Connections Features Pantry Panic (1941)

User reviews 81

• kademan-40962
• Apr 22, 2024

New and Upcoming Horror

• How long is Abigail? Powered by Alexa
• April 19, 2024 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Official Instagram
• Dublin, Ireland (main location)
• Project X Entertainment
• Québec Production Services Tax Credit
• Radio Silence Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $28,000,000 (estimated)
• $10,297,110
• Apr 21, 2024
• $15,253,110

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 49 minutes

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed

Zack Snyder’s ‘Twilight of the Gods,’ the Next Wallace & Gromit Film and the ‘Ultraman’ World Premiere Headline Netflix’s Annecy Slate

By Jamie Lang

• Zack Snyder’s ‘Twilight of the Gods,’ the Next Wallace & Gromit Film and the ‘Ultraman’ World Premiere Headline Netflix’s Annecy Slate 13 hours ago
• Ron Perlman-Starring Revenge Thriller ‘The Gentleman’ Picked Up by Film Factory (EXCLUSIVE) 4 days ago
• Inside Prime Video’s Narco Sub Series ‘Operation Black Tide’ 2 years ago

Netflix and the Annecy Film Festival have fostered an incredible relationship over the last several years. No other major studio or distributor has been as omnipresent at the French film festival, and this year should be no different.

Netflix is planning several major sneak peeks of upcoming titles, a work-in-progress session, the world premiere of “ Ultraman: Rising ,” an exhibition of stop-motion figures from the upcoming Wallace & Gromit film, and two of its titles – “Blue Eye Samurai” and “Pokémon Concierge” – are screening in competition.

Popular on Variety

In addition to teasing early looks at the event’s titular films, Netflix will also share materials from Skydance’s long-awaited second feature “ Spellbound “   –   helmed by “Shrek” director Vicky Jenson – and “ The Twits ,” one of Netflix’s first Roald Dahl adaptations.

Annecy’s work-in-progress panels are always hugely popular with festival guests, and this year, Netflix is hosting one for its upcoming holiday feature “ That Christmas .” The film’s writer, BAFTA-winning filmmaker Richard Curtis (“Four Weddings and A Funeral,” “Love Actually”), will be in attendance for the pitch, joined by director Simon Otto (“How to Train Your Dragon”), producer Nicole Hearon, and production designer Justin Hutchinson-Charburn.

Shannon Tindle’s “Ultraman: Rising” will world premiere at Annecy on Wednesday, June 12. The following day, the film will get a making-of panel featuring Tindle, co-director John Aoshima, art director Sunmin Inn, lead animator Hayden Jones, and composer Scot Stafford. On June 14, the film will be available to stream on Netflix worldwide.

Here are the titles that Netflix will feature at this year’s Annecy Festival.

Untitled Wallace & Gromit Film  (Directors: Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham)

Last year, Netflix was the exclusive distributor of Aardman Animations’ stop-motion sequel “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget,” which appeared on the streamer’s top 10 most-watched English-language films list for four consecutive weeks after its release. Now, the streamer is preparing to debut (outside the U.K.) the company’s next feature, an untitled Wallace & Gromit film helmed by creator Nick Park and “Creature Comforts America” director Merlin Crossingham.

“Spellbound”  (Director: Vicky Jenson)

“Spellbound” is Skydance Animation’s second feature; its first was 2022’s Apple TV+ film “Luck.” The “Spellbound” project has been around for several years and even featured at last year’s Annecy. Since then, Skydance swapped its deal with Apple for one with Netflix, and “Spellbound” will be the first film to appear on the platform as part of that agreement.

“Ultraman: Rising”  (Director: Shannon Tindle; Co-director: John Aoshima)

As mentioned above, “Ultraman: Rising” will world premiere at Annecy and receive a making-of session. Adapted from the iconic manga and anime franchise, this Industrial Light & Magic-animated feature will be available on Netflix starting June 14.

“That Christmas”  (Director: Simon Otto)

Based on Curtis’ popular children’s book trilogy, “That Christmas” is the second feature produced by Locksmith Animation (“Ron’s Gone Wrong”). Set to release during the 2024 holiday season, the film features a stacked voice cast including Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, Lolly Adefope, Alex Macqueen, Katherine Parkinson, Sindhu Vee, India Brown, Zazie Hayhurst, Sienna Sayer, Jack Wisniewski, Rosie Cavaliero, Paul Kaye, Guz Khan, Andy Nyman, Kuhu Agarwal, Bronte Smith, Freddie Spry, and Ava Talbot, with Bill Nighy, and Rhys Darby.

“The Twits”  (Director: Phil Johnston; Co-directors Katie Shanahan, Todd Demong)

Netflix paid a reported $1 billion for the rights to animated series and specials based on 16 Roald Dahl stories back in 2021, and some of the early returns on that investment are starting to come good. The streamer’s upcoming animated adaptation of “The Twits” will feature in the June 12 Next on Netflix presentation, giving attendees an early look at the film, which is being animated by the U.K.’s Jellyfish Pictures (“Spirit Untamed”).

“Arcane” 

“Twilight of the Gods”

Coming this fall, “Twilight of the Gods” is an animated twist on ancient Norse mythology featuring a star-stuffed cast of Sylvia Hoeks, Stuart Martin, Pilou Asbaek, John Noble, Paterson Joseph, Rahul Kohli, Jamie Clayton, Kristopher Hivju, Peter Stormare, Jamie Chung, Lauren Cohan, and Corey Stoll. The series may be a Netflix Original produced by Snyder’s Stone Quarry Animation, but it will be right at home in France as it is animated in France by leading studio Xilam Animation.

“Big Mouth”

Netflix’s animated comedy series “Big Mouth” is nearing the end of an incredible eight-season run, which saw the show score three Emmys. As it prepares to say goodbye to the popular coming-of-age series, Netflix will be hosting a making-of panel featuring co-creators Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin.

More From Our Brands

Hayley williams has been blasting taylor swift and beyoncé’s new albums, too, shaun white lists his midcentury modern hideaway in the hollywood hills for $5 million, alexis ohanian’s 776 foundation invests in women’s sports bar, be tough on dirt but gentle on your body with the best soaps for sensitive skin, all american gets extra season 6 episodes, eyes a wave of new cast members if renewed (report), verify it's you, please log in.

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets' is written in blood

On Taylor Swift's 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department , her artistry is tangled up in the details of her private life and her deployment of celebrity. But Swift's lack of concern about whether these songs speak to and for anyone but herself is audible throughout the album. Beth Garrabrant /Courtesy of the artist hide caption

On Taylor Swift's 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department , her artistry is tangled up in the details of her private life and her deployment of celebrity. But Swift's lack of concern about whether these songs speak to and for anyone but herself is audible throughout the album.

For all of its fetishization of new sounds and stances, pop music was born and still thrives by asking fundamental questions. For example, what do you do with a broken heart? That's an awfully familiar one. Yet romantic failure does feel different every time. Its isolating sting produces a kind of obliterating possessiveness: my pain, my broken delusions, my hope for healing. A broken heart is a screaming baby demanding to be held and coddled and nurtured until it grows up and learns how to function properly. This is as true in the era of the one-percent glitz goddess as it was when blues queens and torch singers organized society's crying sessions. It's true of Taylor Swift , who's equated songwriting with the heart's recovery since she released " Teardrops on my Guitar " 18 years ago, and whose 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department , is as messy and confrontational as a good girl's work can get, blood on her pages in a classic shade of red.

Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and 50 more albums coming out this spring

Turning the Tables

Taylor swift is the 21st century's most disorienting pop star.

Back in her Lemonade days, when her broken heart turned her into a bearer of revolutionary spirit, Swift's counterpart and friendly rival, Beyoncé , got practical, advising her listeners that while feelings do need tending, a secured bank account is what counts. "Your best revenge is your paper," she sang .

For Swift, the best revenge is her pen. One of the first Tortured Poets songs revealed back in February (one of the album's many bonus tracks, it turns out, but a crucial framing device) is called " The Manuscript "; in it, a woman re-reads her own scripted account of a "torrid love affair." Screenwriting is one of a few literary ambitions Swift aligns with this project. At The Grove mall in Los Angeles, Swift partnered with Spotify to create a mini-library where new lyrics were inscribed in weathered books and on sheets of parchment in the days leading up to its release. The scene was a fans' photo op invoking high art and even scripture. In the photographs of the installation that I saw, every bound volume in the library bears Swift's name. The message is clear: When Taylor Swift makes music, she authors everything around her.

For years, Swift has been pop's leading writer of autofiction , her work exploring new dimensions of confessional songwriting, making it the foundation of a highly mediated public-private life. The standard line about her teasing lyrical disclosures (and it's correct on one level) is that they're all about fueling fan interest. But on Tortured Poets , she taps into a much more established and respected tradition. Using autobiography as a sword of justice is a move as ancient as the women saints who smote abusive fathers and priests in the name of an early Christian Jesus; in our own time, just among women, it's been made by confessional poets like Sylvia Plath, memoirists from Maya Angelou to Joyce Maynard and literary stars like the Nobel prize winner Annie Ernaux. And, of course, Swift's reluctant spiritual mother, Joni Mitchell .

Even in today's blather-saturated cultural environment, a woman speaking out after silence can feel revolutionary; that this is an honorable act is a fundamental principle within many writers' circles. "I write out of hurt and how to make hurt okay, how to make myself strong and come home, and it may be the only home I ever have," Natalie Goldberg declares in Writing Down the Bones , the most popular writing manual of the 20th century. When on this album's title track, Swift sings, "I think some things I never say," she's making an offhand joke; but this is the album where she does say all the things she thinks, about love at least, going deeper into the personal zone that is her métier than ever before. Sharing her darkest impulses and most mortifying delusions, she fills in the blank spaces in the story of several much-mediated affairs and declares this an act of liberation that has changed and ultimately strengthened her. She spares no one, including herself; often in these songs, she considers her naiveté and wishfulness through a grown woman's lens and admits she's made a fool of herself. But she owns her heartbreak now. She alone will have the last word on its shape and its effects.

This includes other people's sides of her stories. The songs on Tortured Poets , most of which are mid- or up-tempo ballads spun out in the gossamer style that's defined Swift's confessional mode since Folklore , build a closed universe of private and even stolen moments, inhabited by only two people: Swift and a man. With a few illuminating exceptions that stray from the album's plot, she rarely looks beyond their interactions. The point is not to observe the world, but to disclose the details of one sometimes-shared life, to lay bare what others haven't seen. Tortured Poets is the culmination of a catalog full of songs in which Swift has taken us into the bedrooms where men pleasured or misled her, the bars where they charmed her, the empty playgrounds where they sat on swings with her and promised something they couldn't give. When she sings repeatedly that one of the most suspect characters on the album told her she was the love of her life, she's sharing something nobody else heard. That's the point. She's testifying under her own oath.

Swift's musical approach has always been enthusiastic and absorbent. She's created her own sounds by blending country's sturdy song structures with R&B's vibes, rap's cadences and pop's glitz; as a personality and a performer, she's all arms, hugging the world. The sound of Tortured Poets offers that familiar embrace, with pop tracks that sparkle with intelligence, and meditative ones that wrap tons of comforting aura around Swift's ruminations. Beyond a virtually undetectable Post Malone appearance and a Florence Welch duet that also serves as an homage to Swift's current exemplar/best friendly rival, Lana Del Rey , the album alternates between co-writes with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, the producers who have helped Swift find her mature sound, which blends all of her previous approaches without favoring any prevailing trend. There are the rap-like, conversational verses, the reaching choruses, the delicate piano meditations, the swooning synth beats. Antonoff's songs come closest to her post- 1989 chart toppers; Dessner's fulfill her plans to remain an album artist. Swift has also written two songs on her own, a rarity for her; both come as close to ferocity as she gets. As a sustained listen, Tortured Poets harkens back to high points throughout Swift's career, creating a comforting environment that both supports and balances the intensity of her storytelling.

It's with her pen that Swift executes her battle plans. As always, especially when she dwells on the work and play of emotional intimacy, her lyrics are hyper-focused, spilling over with detail, editing the mess of desire, projection, communion and pain that constitutes romance into one sharp perspective: her own. She renders this view so intensely that it goes beyond confession and becomes a form of writing that can't be disputed. Remember that parchment and her quill pen; her songs are her new testaments. It's a power play, but for many fans, especially women, this ambition to be definitive feels like a necessary corrective to the misrepresentations or silence they face from ill-intentioned or cluelessly entitled men.

"A great writer can be a dangerous creature, however gentle and nice in person," the biographer Hermione Lee once wrote . Swift has occasionally taken this idea to heart before, especially on her once-scorned, now revered hip-hop experiment, Reputation . But now she's screaming from the hilltop, sparing no one, including herself as she tries to prop up one man's flagging interest and then falls for others' duplicity. "I know my pain is such an imposition," Swift sang in last year's " You're Losing Me ," a prequel to the explosive confessional mode of Tortured Poets , where that pain grows nearly suicidal, feeds romantic obsession, and drives her to become a "functional alcoholic" and a madwoman who finds strength in chaos in a way that recalls her friend Emma Stone's cathartic performance as Bella in Poor Things . (Bella, remember, comes into self-possession by learning to read and write.) " Who's afraid of little old me? " Swift wails in the album's window-smashing centerpiece bearing that title; in " But Daddy I Love Him ," she runs around screaming with her dress unbuttoned and threatens to burn down her whole world. These accounts of unhinged behavior reinforce the message that everybody had better be scared of this album — especially her exes, but also her business associates, the media and, yes, her fans, who are not spared in her dissection of just who's made her miserable over the past few years.

Listen to the album

I'm not getting into the dirty details; those who crave them can listen to Tortured Poets themselves and easily uncover them. They're laid out so clearly that anyone who's followed Swift's overly documented life will instantly comprehend who's who: the depressive on the heath, the tattooed golden retriever in her dressing room. Here's my reading of her album-as-novel — others' interpretations may vary: Swift's first-person protagonist (let's call her "Taylor") begins in a memory of a long-ago love affair that left her melancholy but on civil terms, then has an early meeting with a tempting rogue, who declares he's the Dylan Thomas to her Patti Smith; no, she says, though she's sorely tempted, we're "modern idiots," and she leaves him behind for a while. Then we get scenes from a stifling marriage to a despondent and distracted child-man. "So long, London," she declares, fleeing that dead end. From then on, it's the rogue on all cylinders. They connect, defy the daddy figures who think they're bad for each other, speak of rings and baby carriages. Those daddies continue to meddle in this newfound freedom.

In this main story arc, Swift writes about erotic desire as she never has before: She's "fresh out the slammer" (ouch, the rhetoric) and her bedsheets are on fire. She cannot stop rhapsodizing about this new love object and her commitment to their outlaw hunger for each other. It's " Love Story ," updated and supersized, with a proper Romeo at its center — a forbidden, tragic soulmate, a perfect match who's also a disastrous one. Swift peppers this section of Tortured Poets with name-drops ("Jack" we know, " Lucy " might be a tricky slap at Romeo, hard to tell) and instantly searchable references; he sends her a song by The Blue Nile and traces hearts on her face but tells revolting jokes in the bar and eventually reveals himself as a cad, a liar, a coward. She recovers, but not really. In the end, she does move on but still dreams of him hearing one of their songs on a jukebox and dolefully realizing the young girl he's now with has never heard it before.

Insert the names yourself. They do matter, because her backstories are key to Swift's appeal; they both keep her human-sized and amplify her fame. Swift's artistry is tied up in her deployment of celebrity, a slippery state in which a real life becomes emblematic. Like no one before, she's turned her spotlit day-to-day into a conceptual project commenting on women's freedom, artistic ambition and the place of the personal in the public sphere. As a celebrity, Swift partners with others: her model and musician friends, her actor/musician/athlete consorts, brands, even (warily) political causes. And with her fans, the co-creators of her stardom.

Her songs stand apart, though. They remain the main vehicle through which, negotiating unimaginable levels of renown, Swift continually insists on speaking only for herself. A listener has to work to find the "we" in her soliloquies. There are plenty of songs on Tortured Poets in which others will find their own experiences, from the sultry blue eroticism of " Down Bad " to the click of recognition in " I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) ." But Swift's lack of concern about whether these songs speak for and to anyone besides herself is audible throughout the album. It's the sound of her freedom.

Taylor Swift: Tiny Desk Concert

She also confronts the way fame has cost her, fully exploring questions she raised on Reputation and in " Anti-Hero ." There are hints, more than hints, that her romance with the rogue was derailed partly because her business associates found it problematic, a danger to her precious reputation. And when she steps away from the man-woman predicament, Swift ponders the ephemeral reality of the success that has made private decisions nearly impossible. A lovely minuet co-written with Dessner, " Clara Bow " stages a time-lapsed conversation between Swift and the power players who've helped orchestrate her rise even as she knows they won't be concerned with her eventual obsolescence. "You look like Clara Bow ," they say, and later, "You look like Stevie Nicks in '75." Then, a turn: "You look like Taylor Swift," the suits (or is it the public, the audience?) declare. "You've got edge she never did." The song ends abruptly — lights out. This scene, redolent of All About Eve , reveals anxieties that all of Swift's love songs rarely touch upon.

One reason Swift went from being a normal-level pop star to sharing space with Beyoncé as the era's defining spirit is because she is so good at making the personal huge, without fussing over its translation into universals. In two decades of talking back to heartbreakers, Swift has called out gaslighting, belittling, neglect, false promises — all the hidden injuries that lovers inflict on each other, and that a sexist society often overlooks or forgives more easily from men. In "The Manuscript," which calls back to a romantic trauma outside the Tortured Poets frame, she sings of being a young woman with an older man making "coffee in a French press" and then "only eating kids cereal" and sleeping in her mother's bed when he dumps her; any informed Swift fan's mind will race to songs and headlines about cads she's previously called out in fan favorites like "Dear John" and "All Too Well" — the beginnings of the mission Tortured Poets fulfills.

Reviews of more Taylor Swift albums on NPR

In the haze of 'Midnights,' Taylor Swift softens into an expanded sound

Let's Talk About Taylor Swift's 'Folklore'

Show And Tell: On 'Lover,' Taylor Swift Lets Listeners In On Her Own Terms

The Old Taylor's Not Dead

The Many New Voices Of Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift Leaps Into Pop With 'Red'

Swift's pop side (and perhaps her co-writers' influence) shows in the way she balances the claustrophobic referentiality of her writing with sparkly wordplay and well-crafted sentimental gestures. On Tortured Poets , she's less strategic than usual. She lets the details fall the way they would in a confession session among besties, not trying to change them from painful memories into points of connection. She's just sharing. Swift bares every crack in her broken heart as a way of challenging power structures, of arguing that emotional work that men can sidestep is still expected from women who seem to own the world.

Throughout Tortured Poets, Swift is trying to work out how emotional violence occurs: how men inflict it on women and women cultivate it within themselves. It's worth asking how useful such a brutal evisceration of one privileged private life can be in a larger social or political sense; critics, including NPR's Leah Donnella in an excellent 2018 essay on the limits of the songwriter's reach, have posed that question about Swift's work for years. But we should ask why Swift's work feels so powerful to so many — why she has become, in the eyes of millions, a standard-bearer and a freedom fighter. Unlike Beyoncé, who loves a good emblem and is always thinking about history and serving the culture and communities she claims, Swift is making an ongoing argument about smaller stories still making a difference. Her callouts can be viewed as petty, reflecting entitlement or even narcissism. But they're also part of her wrestling with the very notion of significance and challenging hierarchies that have proven to be so stubborn they can feel intractable. That Swift has reached such a peak of influence in the wake of the #MeToo movement isn't an accident; even as that chapter in feminism's history can seem to be closing, she insists on saying, "believe me." That isn't the same as saying "believe all women," but by laying claim to disputed storylines and fighting against silence, she at the very least reminds listeners that such actions matter.

Listening to Tortured Poets , I often thought of "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance," a song that Sinéad O'Connor recorded when she was in her young prime, not yet banished from the mainstream for her insistence on speaking politically. Like Swift's best work, its lyrics are very specific — allegedly about a former manager and lover — yet her directness and conviction expand their reach. In 1990, that a woman in her mid-20s would address a belittling man in this way felt startling and new. Taylor Swift came to prominence in a culture already changing to make room for such testimonies, if not — still — fully able to honor them. She has made it more possible for them to be heard. "I talk and you won't listen to me," O'Connor wailed . "I know your answer already." Swift doesn't have to worry about whether people will listen. But she knows that this could change. That's why she is writing it all down.

• Taylor Swift

site categories

• Fatih Akin’s 1945 Drama ‘Amrum’ Kicks Off Principal Photography With Jasper Billerbeck, Laura Tonke & Diane Kruger

Breaking News

Annecy 2024: Netflix To Tease ‘Wallace & Gromit’, Zack Snyder’s ‘Twilight Of The Gods’, Skydance’s ‘Spellbound’ & Debut ‘Ultraman: Rising’

By Melanie Goodfellow

Melanie Goodfellow

Senior International Film Correspondent

More Stories By Melanie

• Oliver Stone, Lou Ye, Michel Hazanavicius Films & ‘The Count Of Monte Cristo’ Among New Titles Added To Cannes 2024 Official Selection
• Picture Tree Boards Bengtsson Bros’ Debut Feature ‘A Quiet Resilience’ With Newcomer Fabian Staaf & ‘Koko-Di Koko-Da’ Star Leif Edlund

Netflix will be out in force at France ‘s Annecy International Animation Film Festival once again this June, after last year’s high-profile attendance with Nimona as well as teasers for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and Blue Eye Samurai .

The Netflix event will also feature material from  The Twits  and Skydance Animation’s  Spellbound directed by Vicky Jenson ( Shrek ) and featuring Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem and John Lithgow in the voice cast.

Related Stories

‘That Christmas’: Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker & Bill Nighy To Voice Netflix Animated Feature Penned By Richard Curtis 

Netflix Lands Series ‘Calabasas’ From Kim Kardashian, Marlene King And Emma Roberts Following Bidding War

The new Wallace & Gromit  feature will also be spotlighted in the wider festival with an exhibition featuring some of the puppets from the upcoming sequel.

Outside of its own presentation Netflix will also participate in Annecy’s popular Work-in-Progress sessions, with upcoming animation That Christmas .

Writer Richard Curtis ( Four Weddings and a Funeral ,  Notting Hill ,  Love Actually ) will be joined on stage by animation director Simon Otto ( Love, Death & Robots ,  How to Train Your Dragon ), producer Nicole Hearon and production designer Justin Hutchinson-Chatburn.

Elsewhere in the festival, Netflix’s upcoming release Ultraman: Rising , rebooting the iconic Japanese superhero, will world premiere as part of the official line-up ahead of its launch on the platform on June 14.

The movie, which is the fruit of a partnership between Netflix, Tsuburaya Productions, and Industrial Light & Magic, will also be the subject of a Making of Session.

Director Shannon Tindle, co-director John Aoshima will be joined on stage by art director Sunmin Inn, VFX supervisor Hayden Jones and composer Scot Stafford. In the same sidebar, members of the team behind animated, coming of age sitcom Big Mouth – Nick Kroll Andrew Goldberg, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin – will talk about the upcoming eighth and final season of the show, which is Netflix’s longest-running original scripted series to date.

Showrunner Christian Linke, scriptwriter Amanda Overton and senior concept artist Arnaud Baudry from Riot Games as well as director Bart Maunoury and producer Christine Ponzevera at Paris-based animation company Fortiche Productions will be part of the conversation.

Netflix also revealed that  Blue Eye Samurai  and  Pokemon Concierge  will play in the festival’s competitive sections.  

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market will run from June 9 to 15 in the picturesque French lakeside resort of Annecy.

The festival is due to unveil its full line-up in a press conference in Paris on April 25.

Must Read Stories

Renewal status on bubble dramas ‘all american,’ ‘homecoming’ & ‘walker’.

Opening Statements & First Testimony In Donald Trump’s Hush-Money Trial

Whcd preview: potus, media & showbiz converge for d.c. party-palooza, june diane raphael & paul scheer lead amazon mgm pilot ‘dinks’ from marta kauffman.

Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.

Read More About:

Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. All Rights Reserved.