Shrek 2 Review
by Harvey S. Karten (harveycritic AT cs DOT com)May 24th, 2004
SHREK 2
Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
DreamWorks Pictures
Grade: B
Directed by: Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon Written by: Andrew Adamson, Joe Stillman, book by William Steig, story by Andrew Adamson
Cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Cleese, Julie Andrews, Antonio Banderas
Screened at: Loews 34th St., NYC, 5/20/04
Have you noticed the increasing number of young urban professionals whose dogs of choice are mutts, usually adopted from a pound? These fellows can easily pay $1,000, the average cost of a purebred with papers, but are good-hearted enough to rescue the huge population of homeless four-legged friends and have, in fact, made a style out of this. They realize, as so many others have not, that external beauty (Afghan hounds, Irish Wolfhounds, poodles, shih-tzus and other former signs of prestige) means little. What counts is their friends' personalities. Deep inside every Heinz 57 lies a heart at least as true as the souls within the purebreds.
The central conceit of both "Shrek" and its sequel is that we've all gotta respect, nay love, who we are an excellent lesson that will not go over the heads of the kids in the audience. The most amusing part of "Shrek 2" occurs as an animated riff on Stanley Kramer's 1967 breakthrough pic, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," about a marriage whose point of conflict involves Katharine Houghton's bringing home her black fianc??? (Sidney Poitier) to meet her perplexed parents, an Oscar for screenplay and story going to William Rose. In this version, when Shrek (Mike Myers once again) is introduced by his new wife, Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) to an assemblage waiting around a red carpet, the people (and birds) are stunned so much by the jolly green giant that one of the newly released doves crashes into a building and dies. Shrek's horizontally- and vertically- challenged persona coupled with his ogre-like table manners does not put him in good stead with his in-laws, which causes King Harold (John Cleese), without the consent of his more accepting wife, Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews) to take out a contract on Shrek's life.
Directors Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon use the opportunity for swordplay to bring in Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) who, when he can't get his way with his sword transformed himself into the cutest kitty in the land of Far Far Away.
The pace is lightning fast, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) keeping the verbiage on track with his patter, some of which is delivered so rapidly that it's bound to go over the heads of the youngest kids. This is the sort of pic that the small fry will likely see over and over until every last sign is clarified. The accents are delightfully culture-specific: romantic Spanish from Banderas, Scottish from Mike Myers, elegant English from Cameron Diaz and pretentious from Rupert Everett.
Speaking of Mr. Everett, Online critic Keith Ulrich, who writes for the prominent Slant Magazine, had serious reservations about "enclosing another openly gay actor within a restrictive Hollywood box" in that his Prince Charming is a character "who cruelly exists to not get the girl." His review on http://slantmagazine.com deserves to be read in its entirety since Ulrich is one of the few dissenters to the wide praise that has come in from the critics. He may be reading too much into a fresh, kids' entertainment, but de gustibus non est disputandem. My own reservation, however, is that the film subverts its message about beauty's being only skin deep. In the concluding moments, when Mr. & Mrs. Shrek have the opportunity to keep their newly-handsome features made possible by a potion, they opt to return to their less-than-comely forms, because, as the young woman states, "It's the ogre that I married." If external features are not important, why does the princess insist on becoming green once again, as though appearance would change anything at all?
Rated PG. 95 minutes. Copyright 2004 by Harvey Karten at
[email protected]
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
