The Green Guy is Back... But He's Not as Funny
The original Shrek was the movie that me change my mind about animated feature films. I had been in the stage where I thought anything animated was childish, but that movie proved me wrong. It was outrageously funny, and the animation was very well done. Shrek 2 has the same animation, and the same style of humor, but it takes a few steps in catering towards the mature audience with a ton of inside jokes that children could never grasp. There are an abudence of crude jokes for them, but it's real strength lies in the step towards the mature audience. Still, it's a film that people of all ages can and should enjoy. But for some reason, it just didn't feel as funny as the first movie.
Our lovable ogre's, Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) have been married and gone on their honeymoon, but now it's time to meet her parents. Her parents locked Fiona in the tower long ago, assuming the spell would be broken when she was kissed by Prince Charming. But to see that she was kissed by an Ogre, they turn out rather dissapointed. Enter the villain, the Fairy Godmother. Yes, you heard me. She's the villain. She wants her son, Prince Charming to marry Fiona, and she'll do whatever it takes to make that happen, including killing Shrek.
Enter Puss In Boots, the hitman... a little kitty cat voiced by Antonio Banderas. While a great character, he takes away from Donkey (Eddie Murphy), minimalizing each time the characters have on screen. They're both funny, but they can't both be funny all the time, so it detracts. My main problem with this film, is that while it was funny, it was not funny throughout, but only in bursts. This is due to the fact that many of the jokes are very subtle, and while funny, they aren't about to make me laugh out loud. Sure, it has it's over the top hilarious moments, for instance, a police chase on TV called "Knights" instead of "Cops", and a joke about women's underwear. These over the top moments aren't found in huge quantities, which is perplexing, since every single character in the movie is way over the top, right down to the little Gingerbread Man.
So while I didn't think this one was as good as the original, it was very entertaining. The animation is beautiful, and the writing is clever and at times hilarious. It's a nice diversion from the typical summer-junk out there.