DVDs: Mike Myers

Get used to there being a twist...

The story begins with the recitation of another standard fairy tale opening, that one might think as an ending, where Prince Charming (charmingly voiced by Rupert Everett) dashes through incredible perils to reach the unfortunate-cursed princess, Fiona, as his kiss is the only thing that will break the curse. The only problem here: when he arrives to kiss the fair princess, he is greeted by another story-book character who informs him she is on her honeymoon.

Honeymoon?

The stage is set for a frolic of fairy-tale proportions. The main characters are back - Shrek (Mike Myers) in his typical ogre self (who knew ogres spoke with muddled Celtic accents?); Fiona, every inch the ogre herself night and day (reprised by Cameron Diaz - remember the tale from the first film where she was beautiful by day and hideous by night), is blissful on her honeymoon with Shrek. They return home to be greeted by Donkey (once again the humourous Eddie Murphy), to almost immediately be summoned to Fiona's home by her parents, the king and queen, so that they may meet the husband (not quite the prince they were expecting) and be welcomed into the kingdom of Far, Far Away, which is, true to its word, far, far away (are we there yet? is the constant refrain during the journey).

It is quite delightful to imagine John Cleese and Julie Andrews as the king and queen; their characters do not imitate their features physically, but their standard screen personae come through their voices and characterisations. Rupert Everett as Prince Charming, the scheming social climber, is very well done, with typical British fop panache. However, there is no mistaking Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) as the Fairy Godmother (who, it turns out, is Prince Charming's mother, and given that it is Rupert Everett, well, enough said...) - the animation captures the twinkle in her eye and the sardonic smile as she holds the king to ransom for the secret that he hides (she once granted a wish to him, which is hinted at early on in the film - see if you can predict what it is!).

The king and queen are not surprisingly shocked to discover the ogre-ific state of their only daughter, not to mention the son-in-law; the king decides to do away with Shrek, hiring a hit man (in this instance, a hit cat), Puss-in-boots, voiced by an over-the-top Antonio Banderas. Attacking with the grace of a cat, he is nonetheless thwarted in his charge by a nasty hairball, and joins with the quest to find Happily Ever After-effects with Shrek and Donkey.

There are some good songs here, remakes of popular songs sung with style that befits a fairy-tale, medieval recreation of Hollywood/Hollyweird. Just as Fiona had her surprise chance to be an ogre in the first film, Shrek gets his chance to be drop-dead gorgeous in this film, by stealing the Fairy Godmother's potion for Happily Ever Afters. Donkey shares in this potion and becomes a dashing stallion. So, everyone will live happily ever after, right?

Right, but again, there's a twist (and I'm not going to tell you what it is).

There are lots of cameos - Larry King voices the ugly sister, and Joan Rivers voices her own characters as the red-carpet announcer at the royal banquet akin to the Oscar ceremonies. There are one-liners galore, so many it is hard to recall them all - take a notebook with you to the cinema!

One of the trademarks of Shrek is its homage to various other films - try to make all the connections - Flashdance, Lord of the Rings, Ghostbusters, you name it, it is satirised. The same holds true for various fairy tales - the three blind mice, little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, even Pretty Woman!

The animation quality is superb, and shows just how astonishingly lifelike modern computer-generated graphics have become. An interesting effect, rather like a cross between clay-mation types of physical movements and hand-drawn facial expressions, the type of animation here is approaching lifelike and realistic, again with the twist of being almost puppet-like, to fit the fairy-tale aspect of the film.

Stay through the credits! Why people get up and leave the cinema as soon as the names start I shall never understand, but they missed out the bonus scene at the end, that is well worth the wait (Banderas, as Puss-in-boots, heading off for the Kit-Kat Club, begins the scene, and it just goes on from there).

This is a film for children of all ages, with enough humour for adults to keep them interested, and a classic tale, with modern twists, to delight all audiences.

Wer die 1 mochte, wird auch die 2 lieben      5 von 5 Punkten
Wer Shrek 1 mochte wird auch bei dieser genialen Fortsetzung total aus den Latschen kippen! Bei Fortsetzungen geht man ja generell schon eher skeptisch ran und fragt sich im Voraus, ob das denn unbedingt sein muß und ob das nicht ein totaler Reinfall wird. Genug Fortsetzungen gibt es ja, die an das Original nicht heranreichen konnten und total floppten. Aber bei Shrek ist die Fortsetzung ziemlich gut gelungen und mal ganz ehrlich: von diesem trotteligen Oger und seinem putzigen Esel-Gesellen kann man einfach nicht genug bekommen, oder? Umso besser sind ja die Aussichten, dass Teil 3 und 4 bereits in Arbeit sind und da kann man nur hoffen, dass wieder alle dabei sein werden inklusive dem neuesten putzigen Gefährten, dem gestiefelten Kater. Wer sich Shrek 2 dann auch noch in Originalsprache hereinzieht, wird noch einmal mehr zu lachen haben, denn Eddie Murphy als des Esels Stimme ist meiner Meinung nach einfach nur ein Kracher und das gemeinsame Duett mit Antonio Banderas am Ende ist ein gelungener Abschluß des 2.Shrek-Films.

5 Sterne!!!

Wer die 1 mochte, wird auch die 2 lieben      5 von 5 Punkten
Wer Shrek 1 mochte wird auch bei dieser genialen Fortsetzung total aus den Latschen kippen! Bei Fortsetzungen geht man ja generell schon eher skeptisch ran und fragt sich im Voraus, ob das denn unbedingt sein muß und ob das nicht ein totaler Reinfall wird. Genug Fortsetzungen gibt es ja, die an das Original nicht heranreichen konnten und total floppten. Aber bei Shrek ist die Fortsetzung ziemlich gut gelungen und mal ganz ehrlich: von diesem trotteligen Oger und seinem putzigen Esel-Gesellen kann man einfach nicht genug bekommen, oder? Umso besser sind ja die Aussichten, dass Teil 3 und 4 bereits in Arbeit sind und da kann man nur hoffen, dass wieder alle dabei sein werden inklusive dem neuesten putzigen Gefährten, dem gestiefelten Kater. Wer sich Shrek 2 dann auch noch in Originalsprache hereinzieht, wird noch einmal mehr zu lachen haben, denn Eddie Murphy als des Esels Stimme ist meiner Meinung nach einfach nur ein Kracher und das gemeinsame Duett mit Antonio Banderas am Ende ist ein gelungener Abschluß des 2.Shrek-Films.

5 Sterne!!!