Review: Shrek 2

Meeting the parents is such a pain…


(Note: This review sorta spoils the first movie, which you really should go rent if you haven’t because it’s funny. Just trust me on this. Go see it, then go see this one.)

Premise: Shrek and Fiona go meet Fiona’s parents, who have more issues than the New York Times.

Cast and Crew: The IMDB has the full listing. The voice cast (you did know this was animated, right?) includes returning cast members
Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy, and new cast members
Julie Andrews and
Antonio Banderas.


High Points: Everything after “Do you know the Muffin Man?”


Low Point: Y’know, I can’t really think of one. Am I being too generous?


The Scores:


Originality: Hey, it’s a sequel, based on a book, so there’s only so much you can do. The originality isn’t so much in the big things as the little things. (Something fun to do is to count all the movie spoofs and cameos. The “Lord of the Rings” takeoff is a freebie. How many did you spot?) Overall, though, I’ll give it 4 points because I’m feeling generous.


Effects: It’s kinda hard to gauge this, because the whole darn movie is one big special effect. Fortunately, they did a pretty good job overall, with everyone from fairy godparents to gingerbread cookies looking just like they fit in. 5 points.


Story: It’s a fairy tale, for goodness’ sake. You were expecting Shakespeare? Maybe a little convoluted for those in the single-digit set, but otherwise solid and funny. 5 points.


Acting: (Voice acting, obviously.) You’ve got so many choices — John Cleese, Larry King, Antonio Banderas, and oh yeah, the leads. Everyone here is pretty much right on target. 6 points.


Production: I wonder what it means when we’re no longer wowed by photorealistic computer animation. The movie is very pretty, and gets 5 eye-candy points.


Emotional Response: When the whole audience goes “awwww….” that’s gotta be a good sign. You’ll laugh, you probably won’t cry, but since they were just going for laughter, it works out pretty well. 6 outta 6.


Overall: This movie made me very happy. Sequels don’t always deliver, but this one pulled it out. 6/6.


That gives you a total of 37 points out of a possible 42, which means you should get the heck off the computer and go buy tickets already.

2 replies on “Review: Shrek 2”

  1. Better than the first one?
    I heard a lot of reviews saying it was better than the first one. I didn’t think it was. It was certainly good, and I’m sure that after repeated DVD viewings, it will get better than the first (who hasn’t seen the first one 50 times AT LEAST!?) But after one viewing, it was very good, but not great.

    • Re: Better than the first one?

      I heard a lot of reviews saying it was better than the first one. I didn’t think it was.

      I thought the first one had a more substantial story, but this one was a lot funnier. All kinds of digs and references, like when the “Farbucks” gets destroyed, and all the customers run across the street to another one with their coffee cups in hand? Priceless! And keep in mind in one scene “one ring to bind them”. And these are just small throwaway bits in no way spoilers… I think this will be a movie that I catch new bits in every time I see it for several viewings…

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