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Shrek 2 Review
Posted by Jesse Baker on May 24, 2004, 16:30
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Shrek 2 Review
By Jesse Baker
Note feedback can be sent to the following email address: [email protected]
Dreamwork's 2001 film "Shrek" was a literal surprise hit, stunning audiences and critics who have long held towards the notion that Disney has a stranglehold over the box office when it comes to animated films. Starring Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy, the film was a huge hit when it came out but sadly failed to hold up to repeated viewing afterwords. From the over-the-top obnoxious behavior of Shrek, the lameness of the film's villain, and the way that the film repeatedly hit the viewers over the head with the message of how appearances don't matter and how it's what's inside that counts, the film is not something that holds up well with time. In short, it was everything people hated about Disney films in terms of preachiness but without the super-annoying songs and slightly hipper voice-acting cast. So naturally a sequel was greenlighted as the cast of the first film returns to do a follow-up film. Can it live up to the low standards of the first film? Or can they produce a film that is better than the original?
The Plot
Picking up after the events of the first film, Shrek (Mike Myers) and company head to the kingdom of Far, Far Away (which is modeled after Hollywood) to meet with Princess Fiona's (Cameron Diaz) estranged parents. As we learn in the opening sequence, her parents were the ones who stuck Fiona in the evil castle in the first film and now that she's been freed, they are throwing a huge ball to celebrate their daughter's marriage and to give blessing towards the union. Needless to say, they are quite shocked when they find that not only is Fiona still in her ogre form but that instead of being married to her Prince Charming, she's gone and married another ogre. After a hilarious first meeting and dinner sequence, it's pretty obvious that Fiona's parents (played by British actors John Cleese and Julie Andrews) don't approve of Shrek and Fiona's marriage. And as we later learn, there is more than meets the eye with regards to their disapproval.
Apparently, Fiona's father had promised his daughter's hand in marriage to the narcissistic Prince Charming (played by Rupert Everett). So the sudden arrival of Shrek as Fiona's husband causes Prince Charming's Fairy Godmother mother (played by Jennifer Saunders) to demand that Fiona's father eliminate Shrek from the picture. This leads to the King (who is in deep debt to the Fairy Godmother) to recruit the deadly assassin Puss In Boots (played by Antonio Banderas) to kill Shrek for him. But like most plots of murder in cartoons, the adorable but deadly kitty assassin switches sides and reveals to Shrek that his father-in-law wants him dead. This leads to a wild series of chases and misunderstandings as Shrek attempts to salvage his relationship with Fiona while avoiding the Fairy Godmother and her minions.
The Score
With a new cast of characters, the writers of Shrek 2 seek to avoid falling into the same hole most sequels fall into when it comes to recycling the same plots over and over and over again. While the message about inner beauty from the first film remains in the sequel, the writers do a good job of not hammering it over the head of the viewers this time around. They focus the theme around Shrek this time around and do a good job at making the overall theme of Shrek interesting and new with the plot twist of having Shrek transform himself and Fiona into humans as a "quick fix" solution towards their problems.
Another good part of the film is the interaction between Fiona and Shrek. The writers do an excellent job at writing the characters as a loving and realistic couple. The writers do a good job at downplaying Shrek's obnoxiousness and replace it with a more subdue sense of cynicism towards his interaction with Fiona's parents.
Furthermore they do a grand job at creating a new foils for Shrek in the form of the Fairy Godmother and Puss in Boots. Antonio Banderas literally steals the show as the ultra-small but ultra-brave mercenary pussy-cat. Even though Eddie Murphy does a good job as the ultra-annoying joke-slinging sidekick Donkey, he is easily upstaged by Banderas. Luckily the writers acknowledge this in the film with the witty back-and-forth between the two animal characters, who openly argue over who will be Shrek's sidekick.
And while Antonio Banderas steals the film, Jennifer Saunders holds the film together as the villainous Fairy Godmother. Saunders, most familiar to American audiences as the spoiled, overgrown woman-child Eddy Monsoon on "Absolutely Fabulous", plays an evil Mary Kay Cosmetics-inspired Fairy Godmother who's ideas of "Happily Ever After" involve just about everything shallow and superficial known to man. Her disdain for Shrek and ogres (who according to her don't deserve to live "happily ever after") and her desire to see her her preening, metrosexual son ascend to the throne of Far, Far Away make her a much more fully-developed and interesting villain than Shrek 1's Lord Farquaad, who's motivation was rather one-dimensional what with him being a midget and solely obsessed with forcing Fiona to be his bride. Her hatred towards Shrek brings about a nice bit of class warfare to the film, with regards to her seeing Shrek being unworthy of marrying Fiona even when he transforms himself into a human.
Conclusion
A far, far better film than the first one. One thing about Shrek 2 that can be said is that the writers did make sure to correct a lot of the glaring problems of the first film with the sequel. Secondly they hired a great collection of voice-over actors for the new characters, who give the characters a distinctive voice and give their respective characters each a unique voice towards them. The film is definitely worth a viewing....
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