Shrek 2 (2004)

Best movie ever!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

"Shrek 2" is no where near as good as the first movie, but still happens to be a well done sequel. The animation got better, the voice acting is just as good, the story seemed to be well developed, and the setting of the movie was really good looking and managed to make the film itself work solid enough. Pretty good sequel.

Picking up where the first Shrek movie left off, Shrek and Fiona are now happily married and living in Shrek's house in the swamp. Donkey reappears, much to Shrek and Fiona's annoyance. The King and Queen of Far Far Away hear of their daughter's (Fiona) marriage and invite Shrek and Fiona to the palace to celebrate. When the King discover's that Shrek is an ogre he is immediately opposed to the marriage. Prince Charming, who is determined to marry Fiona, appears and he and the King band together to separate Shrek and Fiona and get Fiona to marry Prince Charming. The Fairy Godmother also appears, and she is not as benevolent as you think.Good fun, with some great jokes. Mixes medieval settings with modern in-jokes and parodies. Quite clever, some of the jokes - definitely not just a movie for kids. Rollicks along at a good pace. There are some silly sub-plots but these don't consume too much of the time and are glossed over through the frenetic pace.Great use of well-known characters from children's fables, eg Puss in Boots, Pinocchio, The Three Little Pigs.Superb animation, as you would expect from DreamWorks. Spot-on voice casting too. Pick of the bunch, for me, is Jennifer Saunders as the Fairy Godmother. She gets some of the best lines and her deliver is brilliant.There is a large amount of music in the movie, not to the extent that it is a musical (thankfully), but enough to make it more than just background. The songs are a bit hit-and-miss. Some (eg Eels' ""I need some sleep"") fit in well with the movie and help the tone, while others just feel like populist fluff. On the whole, the choice of music hinders more than helps the movie.Overall, an entertaining way to spend 1 1/2 hours or so."

You have to have a very high IQ to understand Shrek. The humor is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of swamp physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also Shrek's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterization- his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature,for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depth of these jokes, to realize that they're not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Shrek truly are idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance the humor in Shrek's godlike catchphrase "What are you doing in my swamp", which itself is a reference to Turgenev's Russian epic Fathers and Sons. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Andrew Adamson's genius unfolds itself on their television screens. What fools how I pity them.

Although largely a fun endeavor, "Shrek 2" is in full franchise mode, trading in some of the original's spark for a dose of cynicism. The story's a retread of the inner beauty theme from the first movie; one that grinds things down once Shrek becomes human, and picks right back up when Gingerbread Man shows up. The three leads are still harmonious, and the new characters are also enjoyable; but aside from one really good cat joke, it feels like a step down.6/10