A Review by Phil Calabro
2004, Dreamworks, Dir. Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon - Starring the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese, Julie Andrews, Jennifer Saunders, Conrad Vernon
I feel that I have been incredibly lenient on rating movies these days, sometimes giving some films an overrating, even though I have been encountering some real floaters at the box offices anyway. But Shrek 2 becomes an ultimate exception - my high rating for this animation is completely justified. Shrek 2, which breaks away from the cliched plot that the original tended to stick with, has given us the same amount of brisk and fresh humor and dialogue, with a hilarious story to help it ride along.
We start the film leaving off where Shrek ended - Shrek and Princess Fiona are married, and they have now been invited to Fiona's parents' kingdom in Far Far Away Land (the hilarious gags involving metropolises never cease here) and then Fiona's father, the king, finds himself repulsed by the fact that Fiona has married the lovable ogre Shrek. But little does Shrek know that her father locked Fiona in a tower for a reason, so that the incredibly metrosexual Prince Charming, who is also the Fairy Godmother's son, would find her, kiss her, and take away the curse that makes her an ogre. So the Fairy Godmother threatens the king punishment if he does not make Fiona fall in love with Prince Charming...so he must find a way to get rid of Shrek. That's when the hilarity begins.
The characters are naturally the same, and thank goodness for that. We still have the cuddly little cliche of a romance between Shrek and Fiona, but the comic relief of Donkey (who is pretty much Eddie Murphy in CGI, just built for him) and the new Puss-in-Boots (Antonio Banderas) to back it all up. Puss-in-Boots character as the sneaky little hitman sent by the king to stop Shrek, is not necessary, but is simply lovable and hilarious. Needless to say, he is the most enjoyable new figure in the Shrek stories. The little characters of the Gingerbread Man, Three Pigs, Big Bad Gender-Confused Wolf, and Pinnochio are back for small bits, but they certainly add to the general aura of happiness.
The biggest change in Shrek 2 from the original is the new delivery of the jokes. Whereas in Shrek, we mostly focused ourselves on the cliches and mishaps in fairy tales, the writers incorporated pretty much all of pop culture along with the fairy tales. The no-mercy parodies of "COPS" ("Knights"...hilarious), fashion, and society kept popping across the film constantly, from one laugh to another.
Needless to say, Shrek 2 was awesome. I really haven't laughed so hard at an animated film since South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut, and its writers should be proud of themselves. They succeeded in making a film enjoyable for pretty much all audiences. In difference with the Pixar films such as Finding Nemo, Shrek has got the spirit, memorable characters, and endless laughs to prove its superiority.
3.5/4 stars
