<P> John Anderson of Newsday wrote "The kind of movie that will entertain everyone of every age and probably for ages to come ." John Zebrowski of The Seattle Times gave the film three out of four stars, saying "The movie is helped immensely by its cast, who carry it through some of the early, sluggish scenes . But this is Murphy's movie . Donkey gets most of the good lines, and Murphy hits every one ." Jay Carr of The Boston Globe wrote "In an era when much on film seems old, Shrek seems new and fresh and clever ." Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post gave the film five out of five stars, saying "Despite all its high - tech weirdness, it is really that most perdurable of human constructions, a tale told well and true ." Joe Baltake of The Sacramento Bee wrote that it "isn't so much a fractured spoof of everything Disney, but actually a Monty Python flick for kids--kids of all ages". Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer wrote "What gives Shrek its special artistic distinction is its witty and knowingly sassy dialogue, delivered by vocally charismatic performers whose voices remind us of their stellar screen personae in live - action movies ." Lisa Alspector of the Chicago Reader wrote "This romantic fantasy complicates the roles of beauty and beast, making it hard to guess what form a sensitive resolution will take ." Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote "The charms of Shrek, which is based on the children's book by William Steig, go far beyond in - jokes for adults ." </P> <P> A mixed review came from Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune, who gave the film two and a half stars out of four and compared the film to Toy Story 2, saying it "had a higher in - jokes / laughs ratio without straining to demonstrate its hipness or to evoke heartfelt emotions ." On the more negative side, Michael Atkinson of The Village Voice said he was "desperately avoiding the risk of even a half - second of boredom", and said "the movie is wall - to - window - to - door noise, babbling, and jokes (the first minute sees the first fart gag), and demographically it's a hard - sell shotgun spray ." Christy Lemire of the Associated Press described Shrek as a "90 - minute onslaught of in - jokes", and said while it "strives to have a heart" with "a message about beauty coming from within", "somehow (the message) rings hollow ." Anthony Lane of The New Yorker said, despite the film "cunning the rendering of surfaces, there's still something flat and charmless in the digital look, and most of the pleasure rises not from the main romance but from the quick, incidental gags ." </P> <P> Shrek opened on around 6,000 screens across 3,587 theaters; eleven of them showed the film digitally, made possible by the THX Division of Lucasfilm . This was the first time that DreamWorks had shown one of its films digitally . The film earned $11.6 million on its first day and $42.3 million on its opening weekend, topping the box office for the weekend and averaging $11,805 from 3,587 theaters . In its second weekend, due to the Memorial Day Weekend holiday, the film gained 0.3 percent to $42.5 million and $55.2 million over the four - day weekend, resulting in an overall 30 percent gain . Despite this, the film finished in second place behind Pearl Harbor and had an average of $15,240 from expanding to 3,623 sites . In its third weekend, the film retreated 34 percent to $28.2 million for a $7,695 average from expanding to 3,661 theaters . The film closed on December 6, 2001, after grossing $267.7 million domestically, along with $216.7 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $484.4 million . Produced on a $60 million budget, the film was a huge box office smash and is the fourth highest - grossing film of 2001 behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Monsters, Inc...The film sold an estimated 47,290,600 tickets in North America . </P> <P> Shrek became the highest - grossing animated film ever to be released in Australia, passing the mark set by The Lion King in 1994 . In the United Kingdom, Shrek regained the top spot at the British box office after being beaten out the previous week by Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, earning a $20.3 million since its opening in the UK . </P>

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