The ogre returns with a bang - Shrek 2 Reviews

Making a children's film that speaks to young and old audiences alike is quite a challenge. This is especially so with animated films. There has to be a fair balance between immature, mindless eye candy ("Home on the Range", "Scooby Doo") and blantent adult content ("South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut"). The recent creation of CG cartoons by Disney and Pixar such as "Toy Story" are definitely not too silly for adult audiences, but it seems that Disney is stand-offish about an abundance of adult innuendos. "Shrek" takes the honors of being a truly original animated creation that dishes out brilliant satire and subliminal mature messages, yet continues to serve as understandable eye candy for the naive little ones. The sequel, "Shrek 2" picks up where the original left off and still delivers the comedic goods. Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) are now newlyweds and have to face the biggest challenge of all: meeting Fiona's parents (John Cleese and Julie Andrews). This wouldn't be a big deal except that Shrek and Fiona are ogres and Fiona's parental units are snobbish royalty in human form. The sequel brings the return of memorable characters such as Donkey (Eddie Murphy), and introduces new ones as well, most notably a swashbuckling assassin feline named Puss and Boots (voiced to "Latin Love Machine" perfection by Antonio Banderas). Like most sequels, I don't think "Shrek 2" lived up to its predecessor. However, unlike most sequels this is not a lousy, half-assed effort to make money ASAP. Yes the film took in $124 million during its opening stretch, and yes the film was clearly destined for box office gold in its development. The point is that the script is treated with care and delivers plenty of smart writing and fun laughs to keep audiences of all ages satisfied. What I fear about the "Shrek" franshise is the generation effect. Like the case for most films, sequels will likely lose quality as more of them are produced. "Shrek" is a series tailored for one follow-up after another. More and more sequels are released year-by-year to a point where unmemorable flicks get a second chance ("The Whole Ten Yards" anyone?). "Shrek 2" luckily passes the bar for quality and originality for being a sequel. Enough about sequel fodder. "Shrek 2" really is a quality film by itself. It dazzles with creativity with its unforgettable characters. These are characters who experience real life problems even in a whacked-out fairy tale world. Shrek is an outcast ogre with a heart of cold who just wants to fit in with everyone else. Like members of conteporary society, he is different from the majority population in appearnce, but is probably more kind and caring than most of the "pretty people" combined. "Shrek 2" promises to provide a wonderful time for families, twenty something couples, older people......the list goes on. I give this movie the stamp of approval.