MOVIE REVIEW
'Shrek 2' has same fun but is more earthbound
| • | Great in green |
| • | Secondary characters steal show in 'Shrek 2' |
| • | Move Showtimes |
By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service
"Shrek 2" is an entertaining (if decidedly less magical) sequel to the Oscar-winning hit of 2001.
It's probably too much to expect the new "Shrek" to match the original in whimsy, freshness and sass. Indeed, it falls short.
SHREK 2
(PG)
Three Stars (Good)
But that still leaves plenty of room for the new film to entertain, albeit on a more modest level.
Most of the key strengths of the first film are intact, especially the hilarious, scene-stealing Donkey, once again voiced brilliantly by Eddie Murphy.
The character is among the great comic-relief supporting characters in movie history, from the fabulous double-takes the animators put on the donkey's face to Murphy's wildly exuberant voicing. Nearly as funny is the film's best new character, the swashbuckling Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas). With sword in hand the cat first appears as an assassin hired to kill Shrek.
Quickly, though, he's won over by the lovable green oaf, and soon joins the Shrek troupe. The filmmakers imagine Puss as a dashing feline Zorro. The laughs come from the cat having an ego far greater than his capabilities.
As "Shrek 2" opens, Shrek and Fiona are fresh from their honeymoon. However, the happy green newlyweds quickly encounter bumps in their marital road. It seems they've upset their Fairy Godmother ("Absolutely Fabulous"' Jennifer Saunders), who isn't the kindly maternal character we know from so many fairytales.
Quite the opposite.
A conniving, mean-spirited creature, the FG is not happy that Shrek saved Fiona and won her heart (in the first film). She believes Fiona was meant for her son, the shallow, supercilious Prince Charming (Rupert Everett).
The FG's goal is to reverse the magic that made Fiona the green wife of an ogre. She's determined to put her in the arms of her son, and she enlists Shrek's weak father-in-law (John Cleese) in her scheme. After all, he's also not happy that his daughter now lives in a swamp with a green ogre the size of a Buick.
Shrek's goal in this animated variation of "Meet the Parents" is to prove his worth to his in-laws — and to defeat the nefarious Fairy Godmother. The film's message isn't much different from that in the original: Be true to yourself.
Once again, the screenplay owes as much of its offbeat flavor to the old fractured fairytales on TV's "Rocky and Bullwinkle" as to the original William Steig "Shrek" book. And the computer-generated animation is first-rate, from the perfectly wavy hair of Prince Charming to the pores on Shrek's green skin. Moviegoers may also love the way the animators have re-imagined Hollywood and Beverly Hills as Far, Far Away, Fiona's glitzy hometown.
Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz appropriately return as Shrek and Fiona, though neither offers much new to their characterizations. But then, that's the bottom line on "Shrek 2": A popular saga continues, with few surprises.
Rated PG, with mild gross-out humor.
