I can’t say it was funnier or better than its predecessor was, but it is close enough to be just as entertaining as the first.
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After three years in the waiting from the first release of "Shrek," "Shrek 2" has finally hit the DVD market. For an eleven-year old, like my daughter, the wait seemed an eternity, and as for me, it seemed like the first "Shrek" film was released yesterday. Oh, how time flies when you get older. Pleasantly, though, the wait is always worth it when you know it´s a movie you enjoyed in the theater, and an even greater reward to own on DVD.
As part of the marketing campaign for the "Shrek 2" DVD, the movie has been advertised as the number-one comedy of all time. I can only imagine this has something to do with the $436,471,036 gross at the box office alone. Of that total, $108,037,878 was made in its first week alone, and the film managed to hold on for two weeks as number one at the box office, which really isn´t saying much considering "Shark Tale" held on to the number-one spot for three weeks, but only managed to gross $47,604,606 in its first week. It just goes to show you that it´s all about the residual dollars, and not about how long a film can manage to hold the number-one spot from week to week.
However, and be that as it may, let us not confuse number-one comedy of all time to mean that it is the funniest comedy of all time. I personally enjoyed "Shrek 2," but in all fairness, I really didn´t think it was any funnier than its predecessor. There are a few new laughs and a few repeated laughs we got in the first "Shrek." There is plenty of comedy for kids as well as enough jokes to entice adults, too. In other words, it does make for some good family entertainment, regardless if most of the humor is no more than slight chuckles. In fact, the best laughs come in the second half of the movie; thus, the pacing of the first half of the film seems vaguely slow and tedious. Not that this is a bad thing because I find it is better for a film to pick up its pace in the latter half rather than dying a slow death in the end.
In "Shrek 2", we are taken away on another whirlwind adventure with Shrek (Mike Myers), Donkey (Eddie Murphy), and Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) as they are to travel to the kingdom of Far Far Away. Once they arrive, they are to meet Fiona´s parents, the King and Queen of Far Far Away, where they are to receive a formal blessing of their marriage. The King and Queen are played by none other than Julie Andrews and the delightfully funny John Cleese. Of course, on their arrival the King and Queen are shocked to find their daughter married to a terrible ogre and to see that their daughter has chosen her cursed appearance as an ogre.
As the plot thickens, we find out that Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) was to be the one to rescue and marry Princess Fiona in the first movie; however, we all know how that turned out. Not to worry, though, Prince Charming´s mother happens to be the Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) and will do anything to work her wicked magic in her son´s favor. The plan is to get rid of Shrek no matter what the cost so that Prince Charming can move in and take Princess Fiona´s hand in marriage.
I certainly found the Fairy Godmother´s part to be quite the comical twist on what we have all grown up to think of her. We have always seen the Fairy Godmother as a kind and giving fairy, but this one plays more like a villainess celebrity with a bad eating disorder when she becomes angry. On one of the extras on the DVD, Jennifer Saunders makes a bold statement the she is the real star of the show. Well, I can´t say that is all completely true, but she does play the villain´s role rather well.
Early on in the second half of the film, we are also introduced to a new character known as Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). Puss in Boots is a charming little cat that plays his part like the notorious, swashbuckling Zorro. Funny how Antonio Banderas is the voice of a character that obviously pokes fun at the character he actually played several years ago. Puss was originally hired by the King to kill Shrek, but upon meeting Shrek and Donkey, he finds that he has misjudged his victim and decides to befriend them. Puss is certainly a charming and delightful addition to the duo of Shrek and Donkey, and if there is to be a "Shrek 3," I´m certain Puss will be there again.
As in the first "Shrek", there are plenty of inside jokes that poke fun at corporate America. It´s quite obvious that the Kingdom of Far Far Away is a direct pun on Disney World, yet it also looks like Hollywood. One of my favorite scenes is when our new trio hires the Muffin Man to bake a giant-sized gingerbread man. The gingerbread man terrorizes the kingdom of Far Far Way much like what we would see in a Godzilla movie. He finds a Farbucks coffee house to terrorize, which looks identical to Starbucks, logo and all. Below, the townspeople run screaming in terror from the Farbucks coffee shop and run across the street to hide in another Farbucks. This, of course, is a direct pun on the Starbucks empire, which I found to be a total riot.
Yet another scene pokes fun at the television reality show "Cops." Instead of being called "Cops," the show is titled "Knights." In this scene, we watch the Knights bust Donkey and Shrek and throw them into a horse-driven patty wagon. The funniest take-off is when the Knights arrest Puss in Boots and find a bag of catnip in his possession. Of course, Puss´s reaction is, "It´s not mine." And this is but a few of the inside jokes that are so ever present in "Shrek 2." As with the first film, you really need to pay close attention, or you may simply miss the jokes altogether. However, if you do miss anything, then this is what makes the film fun to watch a second time. As for me, I have an eleven-year old daughter, so I´m sure I´ll end up seeing this movie more times than I´ll need to.
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