Negative review of Shrek on its 20th anniversary sends Internet into meltdown

The internet will have no bad words said about its big, green friend.

20 years ago today (18 May) DreamWorks animation Shrek was released in cinemas and instantly became a global phenomenon. There are a number of reasons for this. The movie arrived at a time when people were growing tired of the Disney animation formula, which often drew from fairy tales and myths and centred on romances between beautiful princesses and handsome, heroic men. In this regard, Shrek - with its lead character a snot-green ogre who only wound up on a mission to rescue a princess out of a wish to be left alone on his gross swamp - felt like a breath of fresh air. Not only did its subversion of Disney fairytales leave plenty of room for comedy - the movie does kick-off with Shrek wiping his bottom with a children's fairytale book - it also had a good message for kids that looks can be deceiving and real beauty comes from within. Couple this with a legendary soundtrack of bangers - 'All Star', 'Bad Reputation', 'Hallelujah', 'I'm a Believer' and a fun voice cast at the top of their game - Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers - and the movie inveigled its way into viewers' hearts whether they were young or old. Fans of the classic may ask themselves, is it possible to dislike Shrek? Apparently so, a scathing review of the film published in the Guardian on Tuesday has proved. Written by critic Scott Tobias, part of the review reads:

"Shrek is a terrible movie. It’s not funny. It looks awful. It would influence many unfunny, awful-looking computer-animated comedies that copied its formula of glib self-reference and sickly sweet sentimentality. Three of those terrible movies were sequels to Shrek and one was a spin-off with a sequel in the works. The curse has eased but not lifted."

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and the review raises some fair points as to the look of Shrek maybe not ageing particularly well in the 20 years that have passed, or how the "glib" and "self-referential" humour of the movie has been copied ad nauseam by countless lesser animations. That said, some of the criticism is quite harsh for a beloved kids' favourite and a lot of people on the Internet were not having any of it. Here are some of the best reactions to the review on Twitter:

My favourite thing about that Guardian review of Shrek is that he launches straight in to the concept of plumbing being unrealistic - in a story where a talking donkey has children with a eyeshadow wearing dragon.

— Elle Rudd ? (@ElleRudd_) May 18, 2021

You've insulted Shrek. OK so how did your life change? Did you get the guy? Did you get the job? Is your house any bigger?

— Bolu Babalola (@BeeBabs) May 18, 2021

Imagine waking up and thinking ‘you know what really needs taking down - that kids film from 20 years ago’https://t.co/RvmQpq4PL7

— Liam Thorp ? (@LiamThorpECHO) May 18, 2021

A phrase comes to mind reading @scott_tobias grumpy uncle review of the #Shrek franchise. "Do you think maybe he's compensating for something?" https://t.co/0SeHuNghQk

— Kenneth M Sweeney (@KenMSweeney) May 18, 2021

Me and my wife's wedding cake was literally us as Shrek and Donkey so you better believe I'm mad about that Guardian article. pic.twitter.com/X0ZdfMwGkY

— Sean McLoughlin (@SeanMcLoughlin) May 18, 2021

A reminder that Shrek is both ???? ???? and on Netflix. ?

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) May 18, 2021

You can write what you want, but people love the big, green guy.