Overall Rating
  Awesome: 53.25%
Worth A Look: 30.52%
Average: 9.74%
Pretty Bad: 2.6%
Total Crap: 3.9%
7 reviews, 112 user ratings
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| Shrek 2 |
by Scott Weinberg
"A Furiously Funny Fractured Fairy Tale, Volume II"
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It might seem like a quaint and obvious admission nowadays, but I just loved "Shrek". I found it a perfect marriage between CGI splendor and irreverent Fairy Tale Satire with generous side dishes of flawless voice work, toe-tappin' tunes...plus a few amiable (and well-deserved) swipes at the Disney Machine. Now comes Part 2, and if it's not the resoundingly unique success that the original was...well then it's pretty darn close.Let's get the gripes out of the way right at the outset:
1. The pointless "Sing-a-Long" finalé. Both Shrek movies are laden with pop songs and musical segues that help to push the story forward. In the original Shrek, the worst of the tunes was that astoundingly overplayed "All Star" ditty. The low point of Shrek 2 comes at the coda, when Donkey and his cohorts kick into a rendition of "Livin' La Vida Loca". I could name a hundred songs that would have been better choices. Easily.
2. For all its effortless good humor and colorfully breezy charm, the screenplay for Shrek 2 seems to be lacking that certain indefinable little *spark* that elevated the first movie beyond merely "good comedy". Perhaps it's due to the fact that screenwriting duo Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean) were not invited back to work on the sequel -- but there was an eye-winking effervescence to Part 1 that's subtly lacking in Shrek 2. But the humor is still there (and in spades), so it's not like you'll be walking out of the theater annoyed or disappointed. (Although you will probably be left humming that awful Loco Vida song!)
That's pretty much it in the complaints department.
Like most good sequels, Shrek 2 picks up immediately after the action in Part 1: Shrek and Fiona are enjoying their honeymoon, deeply in love. Everything's ogre-asmic. When the green and massive newlyweds return to the swamp, they find that Donkey has made himself pretty comfortable -- and also that Fiona's parents (the king and queen of Far Far Away) expect the princess and her new husband to pay the old kingdom a visit. Obviously King Harold and Queen Lillian are in for a whole lot of green, gooey surprises.
Needless to say, our big blustery pal instantly butts heads with his regal new in-laws, which prompts the king to hire an assassin who 'specializes' in ogres. That this assassin is an adorable orange kitty with a sword and a Spanish accent is one of Shrek 2's most brilliant new ideas. It comes as little surprise to learn that the frisky feline soon becomes Shrek's new best buddy -- although, to its extreme credit, Shrek 2 does have a few great surprises up its sleeve. (It's just so refreshing to see a high-profile movie like Shrek 2 keep some of its best plot points under wraps!)
On the 'technical' side, Shrek 2 is, of course, an unqualified success of brilliant proportions. So seamless is the CGI technology (and so experienced are the artists who create the magical stuff) that it makes Shrek 2 feel like the world's most vibrant storybook. I doubt that the Pixar boys are losing any sleep over the Shrek movies -- but I suspect that many of those artists can appreciate the craftsmanship all the same.
The voice actors are, once again, spot-on excellent. It's as if playing Shrek has somehow reined in Mike Myers' more overbearing tendencies (or perhaps that it's just that he can't mug for the camera in a CG movie), but there's a touching and reluctant warmth to his Shrek performances that ground both movies quite nicely. Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona, although given a bit less to do this time around, does some fine work, while Eddie Murphy handily steals a few scenes as the humorously verbose Donkey.
Joining the trio is a roster of fantastic actors, none better than Antonio Banderas as the sword-slashin' calico kitty Puss in Boots. Call it a casting coup on somebody's part or call it an actor who is clearly having a ball with a goofy little character, but Banderas absolutely steals Shrek 2 whole. If the Puss character were a baseball player, he'd be hitting about .600 in the giggles department. It's a cleverly written role brought to life by an actor who seems eager to share his silly side. Jennifer Saunders (as a scheming Fairy Godmother) brings down the house in a pair of exuberant musical numbers, the immortal John Cleese has some fun with his role as King Harold and, yes, that's the sand-throated Larry King earning a few chuckles as The Ugly Stepsister. (One wishes that Julie Andrews, as Queen Lillian, and Rupert Everett, as the preening Prince Charming, were given a bit more to do...but I guess it's tough to juggle eight main characters given only 80-some minutes of story.)
If you liked or loved the original Shrek, I cannot see any logical reason why you'd dislike Shrek 2. In answer to the oft-repeated query of "Is it better than the first one?", my response would have to be "Nope." But the fact that Shrek 2 is a more-than-worthy follow-up to what many consider to be a modern classic of animated filmmaking...surely that's praise enough to get your butt on out to the theaters.
As if your kids would let you miss it.Balancing sweetness and satire is a tougher job than it seems, and both "Shrek" movies do it with effortless zeal. There's a cockeyed affection for the fairy tale conventions that are being lampooned, and it's this affection that makes both movies endlessly appealing. "Shrek 2" is smart and silly and exceedingly beautiful to look at; it has a romantic heart and a self-deprecating wink -- and it's without a doubt the perfect type of movie for a Family Night Out. Yes, it's high-end corporate moviemaking of the highest degree, but it also proves that 'ultra-expensive franchise product' can be crafted with real heart and soul. Sometimes.
link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=9591&reviewer=128
originally posted: 05/19/04 13:47:48
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USA
19-May-2004 (PG)
DVD: 05-Nov-2004
UK
N/A
Australia
17-Jun-2004
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