Christmas special review: Shrek the Halls (ABC)
11/28/07 04:04 PM
By ED BARK
"An instant classic," ABC calls it. All modesty aside, it's not half-bad.
Shrek the Halls stars an oversized green ogre who at first proclaims, "I don't care about Christmas."
Sound familiar? And in fact, ABC is pairing this half-hour special (Wednesday at 7 p.m. central) with the evergreen How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Nice duo.
The premise here is that Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) has never experienced Christmas before. Which means that Donkey (Eddie Murphy) is going to keep agitating him until he nearly cracks.
Shrek wants to make wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and their triplets happy, though. So he trods off to buy a Christmas For Village Idiots book and is amazed by some of its contents.
"The tree goes inside the house?" he asks.
You'll get the usual manic action, vibrant colors, sight gags and upbeat musical inserts (including Journey's Sopranos-closing "Don't Stop Believing"). Shrek the Halls never looks cheap, even if it's not as witty and wise as its three big-screen predecessors.
In the end all is well, but not without a good deal of Christmas Eve chaos caused by Shrek's well-meaning but rowdy friends. Look for a climactic visit by jowly old "Ogre Claus," who wishes a "smelly Christmas to all. And to all a gross night."
Grade: B
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