Shrek 2 Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)May 24th, 2004
Colorful "Shrek 2"
by Homer Yen
(c) 2004
At the very least, "Shrek 2" is a marvelous work of 3-d animation. It brims with color, liveliness, and imagination. Every scene incorporates just about every color of the spectrum. It bursts with such eye candy that you'd do better to sit in one of the last rows of the theatre to absorb it all.
Meanwhile, the nuances and the texture of the animation are impressively lifelike. When our favorite Ogre, Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) kisses his princess bride, Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) a la "From Here to Eternity," we feel their attraction. When a character displays his sad-eyed cat face, you have to say 'awww'. "Shrek 2" is affecting and enchanting. It'll change the way you think about animation and you'll find it difficult to go back to the 2-d variety.
Having said all that, my impression of this film was positive, but not overwhelmingly positive. Of course, I would recommend it. And you'd be doing your children a disservice from keeping them from a wonderful project like this. Children will undoubtedly learn that it's not what's on the outside that counts. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
My reservation is that while it is great to look at and reliably amusing, it just doesn't seem very original. The premise is more of the "Meet the Parents" variety as our newlywed couple is requested to return to her parent's kingdom so that they can have a proper wedding. Fiona's parents are the King (voiced by John Cleese) and Queen (voiced by Julie Andrews) of Far Far Away, a city with streets that look like Rodeo Drive and palm trees that remind you of Beverly Hills. They do not know that Shrek is an ogre and that Fiona, having fallen in love with Shrek, has herself been transformed into an ogress. So, you can imagine that first awkward conversation at the dinner table as they try to get along and to sort a few issues out.
Movies about in-laws have never thrilled me, and luckily there are other sources of laughs. Particularly, the film is a send up of all things Hollywood. It stylishly borrows from "Lord of the Rings," "Alien," "Zorro," "Cops" and a bevy of other recognizable references to keep the adults entertained. Particularly funny was an escape sequence in the style of "Mission: Impossible". It's entertaining all right, but all of this heavy sampling makes the film seem like an endless series of spoofs.
The best laughs come from Shrek's sidekicks. The wiseacre Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) has returned to simultaneously annoy and humor us. But, he's no match for assassin-turned-ally Puss-in-Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas). These two grudgingly work together as sort of an Odd Couple from cartoonland to help Shrek keep his love from the negative influences of her father and an evil fairy godmother (voiced by Jennifer Saunders).
"Shrek 2" is unique moviemaking and this is what the summer is all about. I suppose that I wished that there were more going on. The first film was more of a rousing adventure. This one is more tepid. It's nonetheless pleasing. But it would've been nice if the masterminds behind the story tried a little harder to keep Shrek from falling into marital complacency.
Grade: B
S: 1 out of 3
L: 0 out of 3
V: 1 out of 3
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