I’ve made it abundantly clear that Disney and Pixar are the cream of the crop when it comes to animation. In fact, I’d put Cartoon Saloon, Studio Ghibli (and, more recently, Lord Miller/Sony) amongst them in terms of quality… and Dreamworks way, way below that. Perhaps one of the few Dreamworks franchises that is truly loved (aside from maybe How To Train Your Dragon, which I’m not super into personally) is Shrek. For me, I still don’t love it, but I can now sort of understand why those who grew up with it remember it so fondly to this day.
The inventively titled Shrek 2 takes pretty much immediately after the first movie, with Shrek and Fiona living in marital bliss. Now comes the time though for Shrek to finally meet his in-laws, and the happy couple (plus Donkey, of course) set off for Far, Far Away. They are unsurprisingly shocked when they see the duo in the flesh, but no one is more shocked than The Fairy Godmother, since Princess Fiona was supposed to marry her son who just so happens to be Prince Charming. With a bunch of evil spells and potions up her sleeve, The Fairy Godmother sets out to destroy the ogres’ marriage and put things right.
Some might say I’m weird since I’ve only seen Shrek (2001) and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish when it comes to this franchise, but I intend to make up for it, I promise. If only I could find a way to watch Shrek Forever After, that is.
First on the list however was Shrek 2, which… I actually enjoyed more than the original movie? I said this with a question mark because – with the exception of Toy Story 2 – when is the sequel ever better than the first movie? Most strikingly, the animation in this one is a profound improvement on the first; whilst it’s still a little ropey in places, at least this one doesn’t look all angular like an old PC game. This time, we’re treated to a bunch of fun stuff, like glitter! What a time to be alive.
The real reason I think I preferred the sequel however is that I’ve not heard it being quoted within an inch of its life. There’s nothing more annoying than feeling like you’ve already seen a film because people won’t shut up about it (although that does speak a lot about its popularity), therefore this one altogether just felt a lot funnier, more spontaneous and more interesting.
It still doesn’t reach the heights of Pixar or Disney for me, don’t get me wrong. However it does come with some of those good old-fashioned animated staples, like a proper moral of the story and a happily ever after element. It manages also to feel a lot less cheesy than it could have been, in that it interweaves its comedy flawlessly so that there’s still some heart but you’ll get some laughs out of it too.
I’ll never forgive it for making me look at King (then Prince) Charles’ face unwillingly and without warning (despite the joke being lol-worthy), and I still feel that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is the superior Shrek-verse film, but it does give us Julie Andrews and Jennifer Saunders in the same movie so… it can’t be all bad.
Shrek 2 is currently available to stream on Sky Cinema and Now TV in the UK.
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Overall Enjoyability Rating: ½
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