Shrek 2
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Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the sequel to 2001's Shrek, with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz reprising their respective voice roles of Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona from the first film, joined by Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders.
Plot
After returning from their honeymoon and showing home movies to their friends, Shrek and Fiona learn that her parents have heard that she has married her true love and wish to invite him to their kingdom, called Far Far Away. The catch is: Fiona's parents are unaware of the curse that struck their daughter and have assumed she married Prince Charming, not a 700-pound ogre with horrible hygiene and a talking donkey pal.
Why It's A Hero
- It's not just a great and entertaining animated movie, this is a fantastic followup to the previous movie to the point where some people considers it's one of the best movie sequels ever.
- It brings an interesting question: What happens after the so-called "happily ever after"? We knew that Fiona was a princess trapped in a tower, but we didn't knew why she was there, what was her kingdom, etc. Here, we get to know her classy kingdom, her parents, the story of her curse and even the people who were behind it in first place (the Fairy Godmother) and we see how Shrek wasn't prepared to deal with the royal background of his wife.
- It adds in cool new characters, with the most notable examples being Puss in Boots (who was popular enough to have his own spin-off and a show on Netflix), Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming.
- The movie maintains the elements that made the previous installment great (humour, music, emotion, action, etc) and improves them
- Great story with tons of great moments and pop culture references, especially Shrek and company invading the castle to a cover of ''Holding Out for a Hero'' which is considered one of the most epic, intense, and even one of the best moments in animated film history.
- Shrek, Donkey and Puss getting arrested in a parody of ''Cops'' is hilarious and epic.
- Mongo's death is both emotionally gripping and funny at the same time.
- The locations are very creative, like how the kingdom of Far Far Away looks like Hollywood Blvd.
- The soundtrack is awesome, with songs such as Accidentally in Love, Changes, Funkytown and Livin' La Vida Loca.
- Excellent voice acting, thanks to Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy reprising their roles as Shrek, Princess Fiona and Donkey respectively. Antonio Banderas and the other new voice actors are also great in their roles.
- It had a fantastic Latin Mexican dub also.
- The characters are still likable, especially the new characters like Puss, the Fairy Godmother, and Fiona's parents; King Harold and Queen Lillian.
- The use of product placement is both subtle and creative. For example, a fast food restaurant at Far Far Away is called "Burger Prince", a parody of Burger King. Along with a poster for a film titled "Lethal Arrow 4" that's a homage to Lethal Weapon 4. And during the climax when Shrek and Gingy are riding on Mongo in order to reach castle and rescue Fiona, a bunch of people are shown running out of a cafe called "Far Bucks", which serves as Far Far Away's version of Star Bucks.
- The "I Need a Hero" musical number at the climax is epic. And it's really helped by the fact that the climax itself of Shrek and the gang racing to storm into the castle and stop Fiona from engaging to Prince Charming is downright epic as well (as previously mentioned in (WIAH# 5.1).
- It was so successful that it competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
Bad Qualities
- Some gross-out humor, though not as much as the first movie.
- It can focus more on spoofing pop culture than what it is supposed to spoof, which is classic fairy tales.
- The scene in which Pinocchio is revealed to wear a pink thong, while funny, can be considered a little raunchy and inappropriate to most people nowadays, as it implies that Pinocchio cross-dresses.
- Some nonsensical lines, like where one of the three farm girls asks Shrek if he is from Europe, even though the franchise is most likely set on this exact location.
Videos
Trailers
Reviews
Reception
Like its predecessor, Shrek 2 received universal acclaim. On film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on 236 reviews with an average rating of 7.68/10. The website's consensus reads, "It may not be as fresh as the original, but topical humor and colorful secondary characters make Shrek 2 a winner in its own right.". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
External Links
Shrek 2 at the Internet Movie Database
Shrek 2 on Rotten Tomatoes
Shrek 2 on Metacritic
Shrek 2 on Letterboxd