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"The position of annoying talking animal has been filled."
Felt lousy when I got home, helped in part by my insurance company making me beat my head against the wall (I thought my agent had told them I was switching my car insurance to AIC, but no... and I have to wait til Tuesday to get this mess straightened out.). So on a whim, I went to see "Shrek 2."
So here's my thoughts:
First, the salient points for those of you who are considering seeing it and don't want me to spoil too much of it:
1) The movie takes a little while to get into full gear; you can tell the writers are trying to set up the conflict - a little too much. But even the slow beginning is chock-full of the little details that cracked me up.
2) And the not-so-little details. The references here are even more blatant than in the last one, but it works perfectly with the silly tone.
3) The villains are a bit weak compared to Lord Farquaad, but they were still a hoot. Rupert Everett hams it up as Prince Charming, and Jennifer Saunders' Fairy Godmother... she's an evil Martha Stewart with a magic wand. (This applies whether or not you believe Martha to be evil.)
4) Biggest surprise? Puss in Boots. Now I don't particularly care for Antonio Banderas, and went, "Oh, no," when I heard he was doing the voice. But he is hysterical, and the writers get the evil cat mentality down pretty well. It's about time someone recognized the power of cuteness to disarm your opponents before you whip out the claws. Surprisingly enough, he and Eddie Murphy play off one another pretty well rather than simply one-upping one another. The second he appears, the movie picks up speed and goes into wacky mode.
5) John Cleese is surprisingly subdued as Fiona's father. He does fine, but he seems surprisingly toned-down - then again, given the wackiness of the cast in general, I think he's trying for that. And no one (mis)handles frustration better.
6) Yeah, the ending seems like something of a retread, but without giving away the big plot twist, it's an appropriate retread.
7) Shrek 2 may feel lacking initially, but I think that's largely due to the fact that the novelty's worn off - and that really can't be helped. While I liked this one, I hope they don't try for a third installment... I could tell they were stretching to find more story to tell after the first film, and a third time around may leave the plot too thin to fill a whole movie.
Okay, now for the more detailed stuff.
Spoiler space, because I mean it...
The opening half hour is a bit slow, largely because the writers have to work to build enough conflict between our happy couple to make a movie out of it. You can tell they're trying, and they need that first half hour to get Shrek knocked down from the self-acceptance he built up in the first movie. That's not to say it isn't funny; the opening honeymoon montage (after Prince Charming shows up too late) is full of blatantly silly references - but they need time to set up a conflict that will fill up a movie.
Fiona's parents... meh. Julie Andrews is just there to play the part of the supportive mom, and John Cleese is woefully underused. His character would have benefited from being so much more manic (and considering what he tries to do, that would have been believable). The Kingdom of Far, Far Away is strictly a send-up of Hollywood/Beverly Hills, and while it's funny it's lacking the evil glee with which the first film mocked Disney World. Fiona herself doesn't have as much to do this time around, which is a shame, but she has some good scenes and a period of incredible cluelessness that's saved by a well-placed headbutt.
I liked Jennifer Saunders' Fairy Godmother, I really did, although I suspect I'm in the minority. While she wasn't up to par with Farquaad, she was still entertaining as a villainess. (And on the subject, I am amazed that no one made this argument to Fiona's parents regarding Shrek: "You should have seen the guy she was going to marry." But no, Donkey missed that opportunity totally.)
While I'm on the subject of prospective husbands... I'm kind of on the fence about Prince Charming. Oh, Rupert Everett was great and hammed it up perfectly, but I had issues with how the character was written. Self-involved, flamboyant, and overly foppish - he seemed way too much of a stereotype. I swear that I've seen this same type of character try and fail to get the girl in a dozen other films. I know they were trying to avoid comparisons to Farquaad, but the end result was kind of flat. Not that it was any less fun to watch him get decked, but... I'd have preferred some more brain cells there. At least he could have put on a more convincing performance when pretending to be human Shrek - Fiona should have seen right through him from the start.
The plot itself is kind of weak - compared to the adventuring of the first film, the meet-the-parents plot and the scheming-godmother plot don't really seem to measure up as well. What makes up for it is the amount of in-jokes and spoofing - every time you blink, you may miss something else. (And now I find out I should have stayed after the credits for the epilogue. Nuts.) And while I saw it coming a mile away, the twist with both Fiona and Shrek becoming human amused the heck out of me. The minute Shrek woke up in the stables with the giggling peasant girls, my brain loaded the Castle Anthrax scene. And I laughed out loud when Fiona saw her human (read: beautiful) face in the mirror and screamed. (And Donkey's grandstanding was great.)
Oh, and the method of storming the castle... without Dragon along for the ride, they had to go for something even more insane. Well, they pulled that off, let me tell you. Fiona's decision in the end was inevitable, and her father's big secret was handled a little too well by the Queen - I was staring at the screen going, "Lady, your husband's now a frog - shouldn't you at least be looking into a way to turn him back?" (Did the epilogue explain this? I didn't know to stick around through the credits.)
Was it as good as the first film? Well, no, but it was a solid sequel, and highly entertaining. I hope they don't shoot for Shrek 3, though - it took enough work to get enough conflict built up for a sequel. A third installment would be pushing it.
And sadly, I didn't make the Day After Tomorrow fanfic challenge in time. Just haven't had time or inspiration to write... oh, well. Craig Spence's Darwin death will have to wait. He strikes me as the kind of moron who'd try to outrun the tidal wave rather than take shelter.
Last but not least... Happy birthday, Mom. Glad you enjoyed it. :) *hugs*
So here's my thoughts:
First, the salient points for those of you who are considering seeing it and don't want me to spoil too much of it:
1) The movie takes a little while to get into full gear; you can tell the writers are trying to set up the conflict - a little too much. But even the slow beginning is chock-full of the little details that cracked me up.
2) And the not-so-little details. The references here are even more blatant than in the last one, but it works perfectly with the silly tone.
3) The villains are a bit weak compared to Lord Farquaad, but they were still a hoot. Rupert Everett hams it up as Prince Charming, and Jennifer Saunders' Fairy Godmother... she's an evil Martha Stewart with a magic wand. (This applies whether or not you believe Martha to be evil.)
4) Biggest surprise? Puss in Boots. Now I don't particularly care for Antonio Banderas, and went, "Oh, no," when I heard he was doing the voice. But he is hysterical, and the writers get the evil cat mentality down pretty well. It's about time someone recognized the power of cuteness to disarm your opponents before you whip out the claws. Surprisingly enough, he and Eddie Murphy play off one another pretty well rather than simply one-upping one another. The second he appears, the movie picks up speed and goes into wacky mode.
5) John Cleese is surprisingly subdued as Fiona's father. He does fine, but he seems surprisingly toned-down - then again, given the wackiness of the cast in general, I think he's trying for that. And no one (mis)handles frustration better.
6) Yeah, the ending seems like something of a retread, but without giving away the big plot twist, it's an appropriate retread.
7) Shrek 2 may feel lacking initially, but I think that's largely due to the fact that the novelty's worn off - and that really can't be helped. While I liked this one, I hope they don't try for a third installment... I could tell they were stretching to find more story to tell after the first film, and a third time around may leave the plot too thin to fill a whole movie.
Okay, now for the more detailed stuff.
Spoiler space, because I mean it...
The opening half hour is a bit slow, largely because the writers have to work to build enough conflict between our happy couple to make a movie out of it. You can tell they're trying, and they need that first half hour to get Shrek knocked down from the self-acceptance he built up in the first movie. That's not to say it isn't funny; the opening honeymoon montage (after Prince Charming shows up too late) is full of blatantly silly references - but they need time to set up a conflict that will fill up a movie.
Fiona's parents... meh. Julie Andrews is just there to play the part of the supportive mom, and John Cleese is woefully underused. His character would have benefited from being so much more manic (and considering what he tries to do, that would have been believable). The Kingdom of Far, Far Away is strictly a send-up of Hollywood/Beverly Hills, and while it's funny it's lacking the evil glee with which the first film mocked Disney World. Fiona herself doesn't have as much to do this time around, which is a shame, but she has some good scenes and a period of incredible cluelessness that's saved by a well-placed headbutt.
I liked Jennifer Saunders' Fairy Godmother, I really did, although I suspect I'm in the minority. While she wasn't up to par with Farquaad, she was still entertaining as a villainess. (And on the subject, I am amazed that no one made this argument to Fiona's parents regarding Shrek: "You should have seen the guy she was going to marry." But no, Donkey missed that opportunity totally.)
While I'm on the subject of prospective husbands... I'm kind of on the fence about Prince Charming. Oh, Rupert Everett was great and hammed it up perfectly, but I had issues with how the character was written. Self-involved, flamboyant, and overly foppish - he seemed way too much of a stereotype. I swear that I've seen this same type of character try and fail to get the girl in a dozen other films. I know they were trying to avoid comparisons to Farquaad, but the end result was kind of flat. Not that it was any less fun to watch him get decked, but... I'd have preferred some more brain cells there. At least he could have put on a more convincing performance when pretending to be human Shrek - Fiona should have seen right through him from the start.
The plot itself is kind of weak - compared to the adventuring of the first film, the meet-the-parents plot and the scheming-godmother plot don't really seem to measure up as well. What makes up for it is the amount of in-jokes and spoofing - every time you blink, you may miss something else. (And now I find out I should have stayed after the credits for the epilogue. Nuts.) And while I saw it coming a mile away, the twist with both Fiona and Shrek becoming human amused the heck out of me. The minute Shrek woke up in the stables with the giggling peasant girls, my brain loaded the Castle Anthrax scene. And I laughed out loud when Fiona saw her human (read: beautiful) face in the mirror and screamed. (And Donkey's grandstanding was great.)
Oh, and the method of storming the castle... without Dragon along for the ride, they had to go for something even more insane. Well, they pulled that off, let me tell you. Fiona's decision in the end was inevitable, and her father's big secret was handled a little too well by the Queen - I was staring at the screen going, "Lady, your husband's now a frog - shouldn't you at least be looking into a way to turn him back?" (Did the epilogue explain this? I didn't know to stick around through the credits.)
Was it as good as the first film? Well, no, but it was a solid sequel, and highly entertaining. I hope they don't shoot for Shrek 3, though - it took enough work to get enough conflict built up for a sequel. A third installment would be pushing it.
And sadly, I didn't make the Day After Tomorrow fanfic challenge in time. Just haven't had time or inspiration to write... oh, well. Craig Spence's Darwin death will have to wait. He strikes me as the kind of moron who'd try to outrun the tidal wave rather than take shelter.
Last but not least... Happy birthday, Mom. Glad you enjoyed it. :) *hugs*
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I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this movie. I laughed my butt off, and that's no small feat.
Did you want to know the epilogue?
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And THAT'S a scary notion. :)