Shrek 2 (Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon, 2004) Review

If an animated family film is popular, chances are it's going to get a sequel (Ice Age, Toy Story etc) and Shrek is no different. The thing about Shrek 2 however is that it did something that the other animated family film sequels did. I'm going to leave what that is till the end of the review although, if you've seen both Shrek films, you should already know what I'm talking about. Don't know? Then let's find out.

After Fiona's (Cameron Diaz) rescue by Shrek (Mike Myers) and Donkey (Eddie Murphy), they are now living happily ever after...except Shrek wasn't supposed to rescue her, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) was supposed to! Now that Shrek has met Fiona's parents, her father (John Cleese) has not taken a liking to him and wants Shrek gone. He goes to the Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) to use her magic to get rid of him and also enlists the assistance of the mercenary assassins Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas). Now Shrek has to win over Fiona from the Fairy Godmother's magic and also the respect of the king (and Prince Charming fits in there somewhere...trust me).

The new characters are great! We all know Puss In Boots and we all know that he was popular enough to warrant his own spin-off (already reviewed...go look it up) which is probably a result of his badass attitude, being based on Zorro and his voice actor (considering that they GOT Zorro to do the voice) and, yes, he is my favourite character too. The King and Queen are great characters. John Cleese and Julie Andrews work really well together and are believable parent characters. Jennifer Saunders is excellent as the Fairy Godmother and is great follow-up to John Lithgow's Lord Farqaad (yeah, she's the villain...surprised?). One of the best characters in the series has to be Prince Charming just because of his personality in the Shrek universe. In the fairy tales, he's of course the knight in shining armour that was the dream of all the princess...he is still...but the question is whether he's interested in the princess...or any girls at that. Watch it for yourself...he's a great character.

Shrek 2 offers more than the first film. The location in the first didn't really expand on the Shrek universe that much (since they WALKED to Duloc) but the new location of Far Far Away is great. It offers a more lively background full of people. Plus the scenes where people see Shrek are hilarious. Actually that leads on to my next point, MORE FUNNIES! This film is much funnier than the first and that's a result of one thing...the Gingerbread Man is a much larger character (in more ways than one) along with other fairy tale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf and Pinnochio. What you loved about the first film has been enhanced (except if you're a fan of Dragon, Farquaad or Robin Hood).

Shrek 2 is a much improved sequel of a classic animated film. The cast is the same and the characters are great and the actors do well portraying them. The humour is improved and much funnier. The new location of Far Far Away offers great moments for more laughs. It is a great film that still holds up. The soundtrack is truly fantastic and the music leads to an excellent climax. YES AWESOME CLIMAX YEAAAH! Well, there we go...the two great Shrek films, reviewed! I fear for what's next...ooohhhhh....

Verdict:
9/10
A great animated sequel. The new characters make it all the better accompanied by a great narrative and soundtrack.