A great sequel

Rating: 8/10 (8 September 2004)

When I sat down in the theater to watch this, I was almost expecting to be disappointed; the first was so great, I couldn't imagine that it could possibly be as good. I was pleasantly surprised. It's at least as good as the first, but I wouldn't call it better. The plot is about as good as the first; if possibly a bit more far-fetched, most likely due to the sequel not being planned when they made the first(or maybe Andrew Adamson is just a one-idea guy). The voice-acting is great, at least as good as it was in the first, and the new additions to the cast are all great and well-chosen. The characters are well-written, credible and their voices well-cast. Despite being fairy tale characters, all of them are actually funny and a few of the main characters even have personality. I liked how, whereas Donkey was the source of comic relief in the first, now he has someone to play against, namely Puss In Boots. In the first, we met Donkey and got to know how annoying he can be... this time, he's still annoying, but now he meets his match, the Puss In Boots. I really liked their constant fighting, and the Puss himself was hilarious, even when he wasn't playing against Donkey. I liked that Shrek and Fiona had more personality in this one. The tone also seemed more adult, whereas the first was kind of children's film combined with adult humor. The humor is still the same in this one though; as crude as it was in the first. The gags and jokes are very funny, just like in the first, and I didn't think that any of the material was recycled, though the humor is very much the same. I liked the way the fairly tale creatures and characters were implemented in the movie, many of them had tiny roles and bit parts, but were hilarious all the same. Most of the characters from the first one have parts in this one too, though all but Fiona, Shrek and Donkey have small roles. All the parodies are great, and well-implemented as they should be. I loved the scene after the credits, with a nice little epilogue to the story. Great stuff. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoyed the first, or anyone who enjoys crude humor and saw the first(otherwise you'll probably have no clue whatsoever to what's going on). A worthy sequel. 8/10