Shrek 2
The Plot:
Picking up exactly where the first movie left off, this movie takes us to the kingdom of Far, Far Away as Shrek and Fiona return to her homeland to tell her parents (Cleese, Andrews) the good news. Not everyone is happy to find her married to an ogre, with the most irate in this group being Prince Charming (Everett), who was supposed to be the one who lifted Fiona's curse. We're also introduced to the mysterious Fairy Godmother (Saunders), and a bar called the Poison Apple, where the villains of the fairy tale world hang out, including the great ogre-slayer, Puss-in-Boots (Banderas). (From Yahoo Movies)
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by K-Billy)
Shrek 2 is the sequel to the critically acclaimed animated feature…Shrek. I’m aware of how dumb that sentence sounds but it’s the best I can do. This film picks up where Shrek left off. The lovable Ogre (voiced by Mike Myers) has married Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and the two are living happily in their swamp, with the always talkative Donkey (Eddie Murphy) not too far away. But when Fiona’s parents invite her and her new husband to the kingdom of Far Far Away which is basically Hollywood, the pressure to impress her parents takes a toll on the Ogre couple. Not helping matters is the fact that Fiona’s would be husband Prince Charming is steaming over the fact that his would be bride has married another. So his mother, who happens to be The Fairy Godmother, does all in her power to break the two up. Including having Fiona’s father hire the Ogre Slayer Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas). Hilarity ensues.
I went in to this movie with high expectations. It’s been getting good reviews on average and appealed to me because of it’s top notch animation. And the fact that Eddie Murphy’s character Donkey is downright hilarious. I think Roger Ebert puts it best when he says, “It’s a good movie, but it’s no Shrek.” The sequel to the hilarious comedy is a funny film in it’s own right but doesn’t surpass the freshness of the original. I made the mistake of watching the first one the night before I went to see this. This makes comparisons inevitable. However Shrek 2 still manages to be quite a coherent and amusing animated film, considering what it has to live up to.
The story itself was more original then I would’ve thought from a sequel to a cartoon. The whole conflict throughout the movie is whether people should be happy the way that they are or whether they should try to change themselves for other people. In it’s own way Shrek 2 is a tale about morality, confidence, and acceptance. However it’s not hard to lose sight of this when you’re laughing out loud at the films comedy bits. There are some extremely funny moments in this film such as Donkey turning into a stallion after drinking a Happily Ever After potion and my personal favorite happens to be the spoof on the COPS TV show. Some of the jokes surprisingly would go right over children’s heads. Especially when they spoof such movies as Flashdance, Spider-Man, and Lord Of The Rings. So it was nice to see more adult oriented humor. Including some sexual jokes, such as Pinocchio wearing women’s underwear. Which was as disturbing as it was funny. However there are also many portions of this film that are not so funny and seem a bit tired. On the whole I was disappointed by Donkey’s lines in the second film. Being that he was the funniest character in the first I suppose I was expecting more from the writers for his role in the second, but only a handful of his lines really work well at making you laugh. And the only reason you will laugh is because of Eddie Murphy who is always hilarious and the chemistry that his character has with Mike Myer’s Shrek. Myers once again does his best Scottish impersonation for his character. Among the best of the new faces would have to be for me either Puss In Boots, a somewhat crazy Latin cat who slays Ogres on the side, voiced by Banderas. Or the Fairy Godmother. She is voiced by Absolutely Fabulous’ Jennifer Saunders, probably one of the funniest British people on the earth, to delightfully evil exploits.
The most impressive thing in the entire film is the absolutely top notch animation. All you need to see is the opening sequence where the pretty boy Prince Charming whips his head around with his golden hair flying in all it’s glory to realize how much went into this film. The first was impressive and Shrek 2 raises the bar. The most interesting of the animation aspects to me is the lighting. I will never no how they are able to convincingly portray shadows and light on computer characters faces but it certainly is an impressive feat.
Overall Shrek 2 is a very good movie. It doesn’t necessarily live up to the high benchmark of the original but it’s much better then most other animated features that are out today. Home On The Range anyone? And with a 5 day gross of around 125 million which by the way sets a new record. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of the green Ogre and friends. If you like well made comedies, especially of the computer animated sort, which seems to be all the rage lately, then Shrek 2 is the movie for you. Intelligently written, well acted and expertly animated. A fun film for any fan.
Starring:
Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Saunders
Directed by: Andrew Adamson, Conrad Vernon, Kelly Asbury
Rated PG