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The Main Characters
--Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) has recently wed Fiona and they are now off to see Fiona’s parents, which goes about as well as you’d expect.
--Fiona (Cameron Diaz) has just married Shrek. Her parents invite the new bride and groom to their castle to have a big wedding party. Of course, they don’t know she’s still an ogre.
--Donkey (Eddie Murphy) follows Shrek and Fiona along to Fiona’s parents kingdom of Far, Far Away.
--King and Queen (John Cleese and Julie Andrews) are Fiona’s parents. King is very upset by his daughter being an ogre and married to one. He will stop at nothing to break the two up.
--Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Sanders) is Fiona’s fairy Godmother but Fiona doesn’t know her true motives.
--Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) was the one who was SUPPOSED to rescue Fiona from the castle. To say he’s livid that she has been rescued by an ogre is an understatement.
--Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) is a cat assassin sent to kill Shrek by King. He fails of course but joins Shrek in his journey to win over Fiona’s parents.
The Setting
The kingdom of Far, Far Away.
The Movie
When we last left Shrek he was getting married to Fiona. So where do we go from here? After the honeymoon Shrek and Fiona head back to the swamp to live. They get an invitation from Fiona’s parents, King and Queen who rule over the kingdom of Far, Far, Away. Despite Shrek’s apprehensions of going, Shrek, Fiona and Donkey make the journey there.
Of course, when King and Queen finally meet the happy newlyweds, they are shocked. King especially. They have a pretty dysfunctional dinner which ends in King and Shrek arguing and later Fiona and Shrek arguing. Fiona starts to cry and her fairy Godmother shows up. She calms her down a bit. The Fairy Godmother doesn’t leave right away though. She has a meeting with King to discuss Fiona’s marriage. Her son, Prince Charming, was supposed to be the one to save Fiona from the castle and marry her. Godmother tells him to get Fiona and Charming together, or else.
So King is on a mission to get rid of Shrek. He hires an assassin named Puss In Boots who is a orange tabby cat. King then sends Shrek out into the wild where Puss is waiting. They battle but Puss is no match for Shrek. Shrek allows Puss to follow along with him back to the kingdom.
Along the way, Shrek thinks it’s best if he can turn into a human so Fiona can be happy. He infiltrates the Fairy Godmother’s magic hut and steals a potion that makes him, and the person he loves, human. So Shrek and Fiona turn human. Shrek makes his way back to the kingdom but not before Fairy Godmother and Charming have him arrested. Charming then poses as the new Shrek and they give Fiona a potion that will make her fall in love at first kiss.
So the stage is set for the royal dance/dinner. Charming must kiss Fiona to win her love. Shrek has just escaped prison, with the help of his friends back home, and is on his way to stop that from happening. Will Fiona be lost to Shrek forever or will Shrek be able to win her back. Will the king approve of this or will he have a change of heart? Of course, I can’t give away the ending, so you’ll just have to check and see.
My Review
Shrek came out and sort of surprised everyone. It was a hit and both adults and children alike could enjoy it. It has amazing animation, a pretty good storyline and was actually funny. Shrek 2 came out and was more publicized. It had a lot to live up too. If it wasn’t as good it would surely bomb and any hopes of future Shrek movies would be dashed. Fortunately, this movie not only equals the first Shrek, it surpasses it. It is greater than Shrek One in all regards. The animation is better and more fluid, as the animators surely knew all the ins and outs of the system they used and advances in technology made it more real. The story is a lot better. It’s not the usual fairy tale like the first one kind of was. In the first movie, there were only 4 main characters. This one had 8 characters that were well defined and had a meaning. The supporting cast was better too. Of course, the area where Shrek 2 totally blows Shrek out of the water is the comedy. I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed as hard at an animated movie as I have at this one. From start to finish it’s full of laughs. Not only the laugh-out-loud moments, but all the inside jokes and references to the “real” world. There are Farbucks instead of Starbucks as well as countless others. Just watching and picking out all the inside jokes at modern stores and the cheap shots at Disney is worth the price of admission alone. If you saw the first Shrek and liked it or even tolerated it, you’ll love Shrek 2.
Overall Rating
****
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