It’s amazing to think that Chris Farley was going to be the first choice to voice the big green ogre known as Shrek. Unfortunately we’ll never get to hear such a thing, but it would almost seem as though Mike Meyers was made for this part since he brought Shrek to life in a way that no one expected. One of the greatest parts about the movie however wasn’t just the acting, which was phenomenal to be honest, but the soundtrack that accompanied it. The most prevalent group was Smash Mouth obviously as they contributed more than one song, but the timing and the use of each song was so perfect that it kind of made the movie flow a little easier and gave a lot more emotion to certain moments that might have fallen a little flat otherwise. Overall this movie needed the music despite being great, as it just added that much more and created an instant classic.
Here are some of the best songs from the movie.
5. All Star
In the beginning you get the idea, and rightly so, that Shrek likes being on his own and doesn’t need anyone else to validate his existence. The villagers are well aware of his presence and do their best to try and scare him off, but one ogre against a small band isn’t exactly a fair trade, as any D&D player could have told you. That being said though Shrek isn’t an outwardly violent person, he just likes to be left to his own devices and solitude. It’s kind of a lonely life but he seems to enjoy it and as the credits roll by during the intro we get a good look at just how he spends his days and gets along.
4. I’m On My Way
After being invaded by a wide array of fairy tale creatures Shrek doesn’t have a lot of options save to make his way to Lord Farquaad’s castle in an attempt to get him to remove them all from his land. But in doing so he has to make a deal with the would-be king in order to get what he wants. So he and Donkey take on a quest that Shrek immediately begins to regret as Donkey proves to be incapable of being quiet no matter how much Shrek growls and roars at him. Something about Shrek just seems to bring out the more talkative side of Donkey, though the ogre obviously wishes he could just shut his mouth for a few minutes at least.
3. Hallelujah
The big reveal that Princess Fiona is in fact an ogre by night and human by day is only known to Donkey at this point, but the unfortunate fact that Shrek overheard her and Donkey speaking about a ‘hideous beast’ made him think that whatever feelings they had between each other weren’t real at all. So of course Shrek lashes out and delivers her to Farquaad as per the deal and then goes home to be miserable as he drives Donkey off too. At the same time, Fiona is feeling uncertain and just as miserable as she has come to realize that she cares about Shrek and misses the big green guy.
2. Bad Reputation
This was perhaps one of the best parts of the whole movie since it pits Shrek and Donkey against a band of knights that are being tasked with finding and rescuing Princess Fiona. When Lord Farquaad takes notice of Shrek however he assigns them a new task: whoever slays Shrek will be given the honor of rescuing the princess. This leads to outright hilarity as Shrek douses them with ale and then begins a WWE-style beatdown that the crowd begins to cheer for as he and Donkey proceed to take out the knights with relative ease. Out of all the action sequences in this movie this is one of the absolute best.
1. I’m A Believer
It’s funny but it does seem fitting that Smash Mouth would show up at the beginning and ending of this movie as they sing the final song that would end things for the time being. Shrek and Fiona have expressed their love for one another, they’ve been wed, and now it’s just time to party. The whole end sequence is pretty funny since we get to see two princesses get in a slap fight for the bouquet, which ends up being caught by Dragon anyway, and then the Gingerbread Man dances with the cake topper as the rest of the partygoers are having a good old time. This put a cap on a movie that was about as funny as it could be and perhaps even made a lot of people feel that this might have been a one-off that would remain in our memories for a while.
But obviously that wasn’t the case, thank goodness.
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