After a few false starts with animated films like "Spirit," DreamWorks finally nailed one with "Shrek." After pulling in an insane amount of box office, not a single soul on this planet wouldn't be able to figure out a sequel was coming down the pipe. It's not about whether or not "Shrek 2" is a better movie than its predecessor, it's about HOW much better "Shrek 2" is.
Shrek (Mike Myers) has married his only love princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz). Happily married and living in a swamp, Fiona feels it's time for Shrek to meet her parents. The situation quickly grows into a domestic dispute as the King (John Cleese) fails to accept a giant ogre as his daughter's husband. But, no one is more distressed over the current situation as the Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) who's son, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett), was supposed to marry Fiona. Everything ends up like it only could in the world of Shrek as the Fairy Godmother hatches a scheme to put her son into the arms of the princess.
"Shrek 2" spoofs just about everything. Whether or not you'll catch all the jokes will certainly require knowledge of pop culture and other films, but even if you don't, the movie still shines. It's not about the standard fairy tale story serving as the backdrop; it's actually not all the important. What sells the movie are the characters and the world they inhabit.
There are surprisingly only a few new additions to the cast, but the most prevalent is Antonio Banderas voicing Puss In Boots. After failing to perform, well, "a task" assigned to him by the King, his entire demeanor changes, giving him a hilarious personality and one of the most memorable in the movie. Eddie Murphy also returns as the films best secondary character, proving that just maybe Murphy has a career left after bombs like "Pluto Nash" and "I-Spy."
Not only are the characters each brilliantly conceived, so are the environments. Every single frame of this movie is a work of art, suitable for framing on any wall. The CGI is just so advanced from what we've seen in the past, it's all jaw dropping. Some of the human characters appear a little stiff, but it prevents them from standing out against the other "less human" characters on the cast. Everything here has a much more distinct style than the Pixar films, completely separating itself from the competition.
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