Not much of a primer, eh?

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

.:Film Review: Shrek 2:.

Shrek 2
Ogreat!!!

Shrek 2 is one of the most anticipated films in years, judging from the immense popularity of the first film. You see, the original Shrek was a nice way of easing children out of Fairy Tales and making them realize that not everything does end "Happily Ever After", and even if it were to, things would be far from perfect. Shrek 2 closely follows this tradition, and has some of its own interesting comedic elements added to the fray.

Shrek 2 picks up from where the first film left off. Shrek and Fiona are both ogres now, they get married, and go off to their honeymoon. After all that, they go back to the swamp, where Donkey is waiting for them, and being his usual annoying self, trying to find out what Shrek and Fiona are up to. Soon enough, the newlywed couple are summoned to the kingdom of Far Far Away, where Fiona's parents come from. Shrek is reluctant about it.

Meanwhile, Prince Charming rides off in search of the fair princess Fiona. Ironically, he finds out too late that Shrek already married her, and this could only mean trouble.

Shrek arrives at the kingdom where Fiona's parents, the king and queen, accept Shrek with much aghast. What is exceptionally hilarious about this scene is how their dialogue is juxtaposed in such a way as though they were all talking about only one thing, akin to how Mike Myers does it in Austin Powers, when they talk about the sattelite in the third film, and the spaceship in the second...

Naturally, and unlike how most fairy tales go, the king and queen cannot accept what has happened to their daughter. To compound matters, Shrek and Fiona are in disagreement over Fiona's parents, as the daughter naturally understands her parents' side of the argument. Nonetheless, her tears brings about the Fairy Godmother, who is actually Prince Charming's mother. Under duress, King Harold is forced to find a way to deal with Shrek, and he turns to the top assassin, Puss In Boots.

Soon enough, Puss sees the error of his ways and seeks to repay his debt to Shrek by aiding him in his quest of finding a way to make Fiona happy. You should see how Puss tries to melt Shrek's heart. Those eyes of his are reminiscent of Sacha's... in any case, they end up getting a potion that makes them beautiful, and Donkey tried the potion first. Soon enough, he turned into a Stallion. Shrek became human, and as per what the potion said, so did Fiona. Still, the Fairy Godmother has different things in mind... what happens next? Find out for yourself (Hint: It's a happy ending, but some secrets, especially Harold's, will be revealed.).

Oh, fudge. Here's more or less what happens next. Shrek is detained and Prince Charming impersonates Shrek. Princess Fiona sees through this, and her father was forced to give her love potion just to make sure that they end up together. After a spoof of "Cops" ("Knights"), Shrek's friends, people like Pinocchio and the Big Bad Wolf, all try to help him out. At one point, Pinocchio is hit by a spell that turns him into a real boy, and then while he's all happy and so forth, he gets hit by the spell again, turning him back.

I loved this film. The animation was slicker than slick, and it felt so real at times already, pretty much how it was during the first film though arguably better, I would venture. There is nothing to complain about when it comes to the film's technical aspect. I'm happy with the casting as well. Antonio Banderas' portrayal of Puss In Boots as Latino was exquisitely entertaining. If you've seen the first film, I think that few, if any, would be disappointed with this sequel, as it simply manages to retain the kind of flavor that made the first Shrek such a success.

Comedy and music worked really well in this film. The song numbers were well in place, and the touch of putting modern world references in the medieval times, such as "Farbucks", is a really wonderful approach to the film. It keeps things from being ridiculously... well, medieval. I think that this kind of "modernization" simply made for more interesting viewing.

You can tell that there's little to talk about for me when there's nothing much wrong with the film.

Marcelle's "Fun" Rating: A+
Marcelle's "Critical" Rating: A+