College Downtime Movie Review
Written by Hollowman - December 2nd, 2004

Shrek 2 (2004)

Starring: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Cleese

Director: Andrew Adamson
Rated: PG
Rating: * * *

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If the producers at DreamWorks animation studio are thinking about making “Shrek 3”, well, they better make sure that they spend a very, very long time perfecting their story. In “Shrek 2”, the writers virtually have used up every gag that you can possibly do when it comes to poking fun and Disney and the whole fairy tale genre.

This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy “Shrek 2”. Quite the opposite, in fact. As far as watching the movie just for sheer laughs, the sequel hits a definite homerun. But as far as story and originality, it, like its predecessor, falls short of the wonderful story telling done in the Pixar flicks (“Toy Story” 1&2, “Finding Nemo”, and the new “The Incredibles”).

Anyway, “Shrek 2” opens right where the original left off. Shrek (Mike Myers) and his newly turned ogre wife, Fiona (Cameron Diaz), are on their honeymoon. Meanwhile (getting back to the frequent satire of the whole fairy tale mode), Prince Charming finally makes his way to the castle in which he will “climb to the highest room of the tallest tower” where Fiona awaits “true love’s first kiss”. He’s a bit surprised when he finds the wolf from “Little Red Riding Hood” in her place. Fiona’s parents, hearing about her marriage, invite her and Shrek back home to Far Far Away for a congratulations party. They go, but not before they get stuck with Donkey (Eddie Murphy), the most eccentric character in either movie.

They arrive, and of course, the parents (voiced charmingly by John Cleese and Julie Andrews) are not thrilled to see who their daughter has married. Now, it seems that everyone is trying to break the marriage up. Even the Fairy Godmother gets involved. She’s not only thrown off by Fiona’s choice, but is also angry because it’s not Prince Charming, her son (Rupert Everett provides the voice and again proves he’s a master at the suave, comic fellow). The story takes off. Shrek and Donkey are on another adventure, this time to change Shrek’s appearance to a more suitable look. Meanwhile, Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) does what she can to end the marriage and bring Fiona and Charming together. Throughout their quest, they’re joined by Puss in Boots, who’s voiced by Antonio Banderas. Banderas’s voice and mannerism is perfect, seeing how Puss is a direct knock off of his Zorro character.

And that’s exactly what “Shrek 2” becomes. Not that the first one was a true original piece on its own, but this sequel spends the entire second half of itself making fun of today’s pop culture. From the red carpet show on E (which delivers one of the funniest jokes with a very young Joan Rivers in the Medieval days), to the hand held camera show “COPS”. If the rip offs weren’t so clever or charismatic, though, they would have fallen and made “Shrek 2” nothing more than a twelve year old kid, repeating to his friends what he just saw on MTV the day before. However, fun dialogue, excellent comic timing, and some extra use of smaller characters (the Gingerbread Man, Pinocchio) make “Shrek 2” a hoot.

I came into the “Shrek 2” expecting the same kind of laughs from the original. It outdoes it with the comedy and amount of laughs, but it is just lacking on coming up with any solid originality. Even its theme isn’t that original. Like in the first, “Shrek 2” is about being true to yourself and loving the spirit within and not the superficiality of looks and charm. It also makes no stops at ripping into the classic Disney flicks, and mixing old fairy tale characters with modern day scenarios (the Headless Horseman does the drunk test of touching his nose with just his index fingers), but what the “Shrek” movies need, are some writers who are not afraid to make a story that relies on nothing but itself for the laughs. Pixar has been doing it since “Toy Story” in 1999 and hasn’t made a bad movie since. They know to leave the Disney jokes to Bugs and Daffy; they’ve been doing it since the 30’s.

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