Shrek 2 (2004)
Directed by Conrad Vernon
Happily ever after never seemed so far far away when a trip to meet the in-laws turns into a hilariously twisted adventure for Shrek and Fiona. With the help of ever-faithful Donkey, Shrek takes on the potion-brewing Fairy Godmother, pompous Prince Charming, and infamous ogre-killer Puss In Boots.
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Watching the movie is like sitting next to an ADD patient with access to a remote control and a hundred premium cable channels; you could try to keep count as the images flicker by, but ultimately it's a pointless exercise as they're piled one on top of the other--as the From Here to Eternity joke just as quickly becomes a Little Mermaid punch line immediately gives way to a Lord of the Rings nod that rapidly evolves into a Spider-Man gag.
True, the pop- culture and movie in- jokes are more manic and come faster than in Shrek; and while the references to things like The Lord of the Rings and Ghostbusters aren’t entirely unexpected, who’d have imagined nods to From Here to Eternity or The Fabulous Baker Boys?
After a roll in the waves recalling Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr ’s sultry clinch in From Here to Eternity, they discover there’s trouble in paradise, and its name is in-laws.
Not even Eddie Murphy as Donkey can get off a good one, so you might spend this part of the movie reflecting on how computer animation makes humans look creepy and creepy things look human, or perhaps count the gratuitous movie references (From Here to Eternity and The Sound of Music, and many others, are tapped before we even get to the fart joke).
With its Meet the Parents vibe and its twisted take on classic fairy tale standards, Shrek 2 is always entertaining and often hilarious.
Over their first evening meal en famille— either Guess Who’s Coming to Dinneror Meet the Parents, depending on when you grew up — King Harold (voiced by a querulous John Cleese ) and Queen Lillian ( Julie Andrews , reprising her regal dignity in The Princess Diaries) try to overcome their shock at their daughter’s altered appearance and her new husband’s table manners.
"Shrek 2" is "Meet the Parents" for computer-animated ogres, and once again the cat gets the biggest laughs--in this case a swashbuckling, saucer-eyed Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas, sending up his Zorro character).
King-in-Law and Queen-in-Law host the newlyweds, but the result is an awkward bit of rejection with more nuance than anything in Meet the Parents.
Co-writer/co-director Adamson has said it was inspired by "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," and there is something of the plodding nature of that film in this one's initial exposition.
Concocting a magical potion -- part "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and part popular culture with sprinkles of pixel dust -- Pacific Data Images/DreamWorks has created one of the year's most entertaining movies.
Over their first evening meal en famille— either Guess Who’s Coming to Dinneror Meet the Parents, depending on when you grew up — King Harold (voiced by a querulous John Cleese ) and Queen Lillian ( Julie Andrews , reprising her regal dignity in The Princess Diaries) try to overcome their shock at their daughter’s altered appearance and her new husband’s table manners.
No less than the butt-ugly, digitally animated version of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner , Shrek 2 continues its predecessor’s facile race and gender thematics while stubbornly playing to the rabble in the pit.
The first film's main problem is also present in the sequel, though - a feeling of warmed over borrowings from "The Princess Bride" joined this time with echoes of Pixar's "Monsters, Inc." Farquaad's Disneyland kingdom is replaced with the Hollywood styled Far Far Away with its stretch-carriages and hillside sign (not to mention Barney's Old York, Gap Queen and Old Navery).
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…and often nothing more than a couple of seconds long, as when Puss-in Boots does a quick version of the iconic Flashdance image of Jennifer Beals being doused with water.
This time, attentive viewers will catch unflattering glimpses of Ariel (The Little Mermaid) and the duo of Lumiere and Cogsworth (Beauty and the Beast).
In the honeymoon montage that begins the film, there are references to "From Here To Eternity," "The Lord of The Rings," and "The Little Mermaid" -- more importantly, at least two of those three gags get a laugh.
“Shrek 2” reminds me of how “Toy Story 2” was an equal match for its predecessor.
But unlike "Toy Story 2," which surpassed its predecessor in every way, "Shrek 2" is an ogre when it comes to gaining momentum.
It is stuffed full of movie and TV references, from COPS and Flashdance to E! Entertainment and Mission Impossible.
The cumulative effect of all this name-dropping, however, is that Shrek 2 comes across like an egotistical know-it-all flaunting an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture, with random, easily recognizable asides about Ghostbusters, Mission: Impossible and Justin Timberlake (Diaz’s current boyfriend, no less!)
As in the original film, the story writers have fun spoofing films like "The Lord of the Rings," "Spider-Man," "From Here to Eternity" and, most successfully, "Mission Impossible."
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Still, like last years Finding Nemo , Shrek 2 manages to be warm and clever at the same time, opting for inspired sight-gags and perfect, rib-tickling voice-casting to make a sweet and sincere little story about family feel fresh and engaging.
That movie featured very little in the way of action, and what action it had was far less fluid and exhilerating than Finding Nemo 's ocean current or Monsters, Inc. 's trapdoor chase.
"Shrek 2" doesn't have the groundbreaking quality of Pixar projects such as "Finding Nemo," yet it's vivid and crisp, especially when it comes to rendering human characters.
Think Ellen DeGeneres in Finding Nemo .
The rest of Shrek 2 is an exuberant bounce through more action-movie send-ups (from King Kong to The Matrix) and irreverent sight gags than you could possibly catch in a single sitting, culminating in a final good-humored poke at the Oscars, hosted by a Joan Rivers whose grinning mug looks only marginally more claymated than her worked-over face in real life.