Shrek 2

Genres:	Animation	Comedy	African American
Adventure	Fantasy Animals	Family Kids	Sequel

Shrek 2

Review by Pam & George Singleton

H H H H

Cast

Mike Myers Eddie Murphy

Cameron Diaz Julie Andrews

Antonio Banderas John Cleese

Rupert Everett Jennifer Saunders

Directed by Andrew Adamson. Animated family film. Rated PG for some crude humor, a brief substance reference and some suggestive content. Dreamworks Pictures. Running time 105 minutes.

Mission accomplished

The script and artistic quality of this animated feature film is magnificent. Kids will love the wonderful characters and story, and parents will also appreciate the sophisticated under story, with references to memorable scenes from films such as "Mission Impossible," "The Fabulous Baker Boys" and "From Here to Eternity."

Shrek (Mike Myers), the lovable ogre, won the hand of beautiful Princess Fiona (Carmeron Diaz), whose identity as an ogre was revealed in the original "Shrek." The happily married couple returns from their honeymoon to find Donkey (Eddie Murphy) hanging out in their cottage in the Enchanted Forest. Then they receive an invitation from Fiona’s parents, the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Far Far Away (John Cleese and Julie Andrews), requesting a visit home.

The King and Queen could not begin to "guess who’s coming to dinner." They are more than a little surprised that their daughter’s new husband is not the handsome Prince Charming, who was to rescue her from the tower. And then, of course, there’s also Donkey. Prince Charming and his mother, Fairy Godmother, blackmail the King to hire Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) to take out a Soprano style contract on Shrek so that Charming can have the Princess to himself.

Of course, true to fairy tale form, Shrek and Fiona do live happily ever after. Along the way they have more than their share of trials and tribulations. Jennifer Saunders and Rupert Everett, as Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming, are great villains but the truly standout performance is Banderas. The combination of how his character is written, his performance and his animated appearance rings the bell for Oscar caliber work. To tell much more about the story would take away much of the pleasure in seeing the film.

George’s Take: The performance by Banderas was the equivalent of hearing Leonard Bernstein play Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue." I also really loved the references to the film classics, especially "MI" and "From Here to Eternity."

Pam’s Take: It’s wonderful that these characters, especially Fiona and Shrek, accept themselves and each other. This is the best of all "kids’ movies" ¾ adults can laugh right along and enjoy the story on another level.

"Shrek 2" is a real treat. We look at it as a Fairy Tale for the Real World. The sight gags and old film references move by quickly, and while you’re laughing at one thing something else happens. Oh well, you can rewind on the DVD, when you add this to your video collection with the original "Shrek" and "Finding Nemo."