Movie Review: Shrek 2

Stars (Out of 10): 9.5

One Word Summary: Satirific

Movie Details: Shrek 2 Adventure | Action | Fantasy | Family/Kids | Comedy | Animation MPAA RATING PG for some crude humor, a brief substance reference and some suggestive content 93 minutes | Color USA WRITTEN BY J. David Stem Joe Stillman David N. Weiss William Steig (characters)   DIRECTED BY Andrew Adamson Kelly Asbury Conrad Vernon THEATRICAL RELEASE May 19, 2004   Relevant Sites: IMDB Official Movie Website Watch The Movie Trailers Shopping: Shop Amazon for items related to this movie. Shop for movie posters at AllPosters

"Shrek 2" Review:

        Shrek 2 is the sequel to the 2001 Oscar winning animated satire, but this time it's meet the parents for Shrek and his new wife. The two travel to the Kingdom of Far Far Away to meet Fiona's parents, who are shocked that their daughter married an ogre and not Prince Charming. Shrek doesn't exactly fit into the royal family, so the King and Fairy Godmother plot to get rid of him and find Fiona a new husband with whom she can live happily ever after.

          Wannabes and posers, take note… this is a satire! Shrek awed us with it's ahead of the curve animation, great cast, and original story, the sequel doesn't have the element of surprise, but it has everything else. I always write about the great writers in Hollywood, mainly Charlie Kaufman, but the team that wrote Shrek 2 is just as smart and just as talented.

          I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to write a satire, especially one this good (which the Scary Movie team has failed to do), because there are so many hidden jokes that it's nearly impossible to catch them all. I figured this movie would be funny, but honestly, how many fairy tales can you spoof before you run out of material… the answer is, we aren't even nearing the peak. Shrek 2 spoofs everything from Pinocchio to J.Lo music videos, and it's even funnier than the original. It's ironic to think about when you're sitting in a PG movie with screaming little children sitting behind you, but Shrek 2 is able to capture as many laughs as any R rated movie, without the advantage of 'going for the groin'. Shrek goes for the belly laugh, and succeeds almost every time!

          At one point in the movie, I began to get irritated because the voices weren't exactly matched up with the characters' mouths. I thought there was a problem with the theatre, but then I realized what the problem was; Shrek 2's animation is SO good that I almost forgot that the people on screen weren't actually talking and that I was expecting live action lips on animated characters. I felt stupid, but I was even more impressed.

          What else impressed me, well, Shrek's entire all-star voice cast returned for seconds as well as some additional talent. Antonio Banderas plays the adorable pussy cast assassin, probably the funniest character in the movie, Julie Andrews and John Cleese play Fiona's parents, and Rupert Everett voices the obnoxious Prince Charming. Myers, Murphy, and Diaz (who got to slip in a quick reference to her real life romance with Justin Timberlake) are still hilarious and one can only hope to see the three together for a third time very soon.

          Shrek 2 is the ideal sequel, it takes all that worked in the sequel and gives it new life. The first one was great, but 2 comes from a completely different angle. I think it was a great choice to have the movie start right where the last one left off (as opposed to getting cute and putting Shrek and Fiona into a nursing home or something), and then 2 goes in a wonderful new direction. It's part musical, part character comedy, part satire, it's even a little more racy than the original (maybe they figure the crowd that loved the first one is a little older now). Every joke in this movie works, some please the little ones, and a lot please the parents.

The Bottom Line is that Shrek 2 is a masterpiece. Say what you want about epics, there sure are a lot this summer, and artsy dramas, but if you're only going to see one movie this summer, I can almost guarantee this should be it. Take your kids, take your parents, take your housekeeper, because all of them will love Shrek 2, it's just that kind of movie!