Director:
Andrew Adamson
Kelly Asbury
Conrad Vernon
Starring:
Mike Myers
Cameron Diaz
Eddie Murphy
Antonio Banderas
Jennifer Saunders
Rupert Everett
John Cleese
Julie Andrews
Release: 19 May 04
IMDb
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Shrek 2
BY: DAVID PERRY
A cornucopia of faux Medieval product placement and in-jokes,
Shrek 2 surprises by investing far more in strengthening its sketch comedy
than its overall story. While this might not create the most riveting film
of the year, nor create much of a groundswell of interest in seeing any of
these characters again, it certainly makes this return stroll through the
revisionist fairy tale land of Shrek more amenable and enjoyable this time
around. Although Shrek was a pleasant film, it almost seemed intoxicated by
itself, as if ripping of fables and questioning the morals in their finales
was a new achievement (ahem, The Princess Bride did it before, and did it
better).
Shrek 2 doesn’t sit on its laurels the same way. Where a self-importance
streamed through the fart jokes (of which there are still far too many in
the sequel), this follow-up seems more heady and delirious. The laughs
stream through the work with the comic timing of some of the better Saturday
Night Live skits over the years, and the final impression is left by the
jokes that work, not those that fail.
Unlike in Shrek, the screenwriters here abandon much of the moralizing for
the pat finale (no John Cale’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” montage
here). What remains are the secondary characters, nearly all of whom – from
Pinocchio to the Three Blind Mice – are much more interesting that three
leads. Though many of the characters were window dressing the first time
around, their embellishment now is joined by the introduction of Puss in
Boots (voiced by an amazingly game Banderas – the best vocal work in an
animated film since Kelsey Grammer in Toy Story 2) and the Fairy Godmother
(Saunders; turning her beloved intoxicated Absolutely Fabulous character
into a conniving but prim lady).
Even if the first two-thirds only register a few genuine laughs, the finale
is such a convoluted series of wonderful segments that, as the Fairy
Godmother breaks into an outstanding performance of Flashdance’s “I Need a
Hero” and Shrek’s finest comedian the Ginger Bread Man upstages the
Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man, all sins of the first half of Shrek 2 as well as
Shrek in its entirety are quickly forgotten.
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