Review of Shrek 2 (2004) by Filipeneto — 17 Jan 2021

After such a remarkable success it was quite obvious that DreamWorks was going to produce a sequel to "Shrek". Of course, the first film always has the advantage of novelty, but personally I believe that this sequel has managed to match the initial film, both in quality as in spirit and ability to entertain us.

The script takes the story more or less where the first film ended: Shrek and Fiona got married and are finally living together in the swamp. But news run fast, and they will soon receive a visit from a delegation from the kingdom of Far Far Away, ruled by Fiona's parents. The message invites them to a reception where they will be introduced to the kingdom. It turns out that Shrek knows he was never popular, and the fact that they are both ogres is going to be a cause for troubles. In between, they will also have the opposition and intrigues of Prince Charming and his mother, the powerful and maleficent Fairy Godmother.

As I said, the film manages to keep the quality level of its predecessor and to honor it with a story that follows what we have already seen. Despite this, the film is not always as fresh and engaging as the first. Very well done and edited in a very competent way, the film works well and entertains us wonderfully, in addition to continuing to give us a very original alternative version of the fairy tales we were used to. The mixture of naive and innocent humor with adult themes continues to be visible throughout the film, which brings interesting and educational messages about stereotypes and the acceptance of those who are different. The film inherits almost all the cast and crew from the previous production and, thus, to the voices of Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy, we have also some honorable additions such as Jennifer Saunders, Rupert Everett, the veteran and noble voices of Julie Andrews and John Cleese or the dense tones of António Banderas, which is one of the best novelties in the film due to the witty and well-idealized way he gave voice and spirit to Puss in Boots. Despite going unnoticed among the stars, I also want to highlight the good voice work of Conrad Vernon, who lends his voice to several characters in the film.

At a technical level, the film is impeccable. DreamWorks invested a lot in this production, and it paid off: the film is visually elegant and beautiful, with excellent colors and pristine cinematographic work. I especially liked the way the realm of Fiona's parents turns out to be, in reality, a kind of joke with the city of Los Angeles, where the movie studios are located. They even put there the Hollywood Sign! The soundtrack is not as striking nor remarkable as that of the initial film, but I especially liked the opening song, "Accidentally in Love", and the version of "Holding Out for a Hero" by Jennifer Saunders herself.