Can a sequel be better than the original? Really really.

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2004)

Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) rides across heat and cold to reach the castle, races up to the highest room of the tallest tower to rescue the princess from her prison, pulls back the curtains of her bed... and gasps!
"Shrek 2" picks up where "Shrek" left off: Shrek and Fiona are on their honeymoon as Donkey watches over the Swamp. When they return, Fiona receives a message from her parents, the King and Queen (John Cleese and Julie Andrews) of Far Far Away, summoning her to a ball honoring her and her groom. So the three of them pack up the onion carriage and head off on their long journey.
When King Harold finds out what his baby girl married and what she's become, he hires Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas)--an assassin with a nasty case of hairballs--to whack Shrek, hoping she'll fall in love with Charming (who is anything but). But Shrek and Puss become fast friends, and plot a way to foil Fairy Godmother's (Jennifer Saunders) plan to force Fiona to marry Charming.
There's more on-screen singing, most of which is performed by Murphy and Saunders. The finale is Murphy and Banderas, in character, singing "La Vida Loca."
"Shrek 2" continues to fire shots at Disney, but also skewers commercialism (Saxon Fifth Avenue), the Brothers Grimm, pop culture, "Cops," and Hollywood (note the sign on the hillside), while giving its audience a new message: loving one's self.
I didn't think the sequel could possibly hold a candle to "Shrek," but I was wrong. It is funnier and more touching than the original. 10/10
PG: Crude humor that most little ones won't get anyway.