Shrek 2 misses the mark

Rating: 3/10 (4 December 2004)

Where do I start with this movie? My main complaint would probably be that this sequel has the exact same theme and message as the first film. I'm all for the "be proud of who you are" thing but we already saw it in the first Shrek, so why trot it out again here? The new characters introduced are not great. Puss in Boots is good, but Fiona's parents are bland and the Fairy Godmother is a thoroughly unlikeable villain (and not in a good way).
Dreamworks uses a lot of tactics that make me cringe non stop. The first is their belief that every single character has to be voiced by the biggest A-List star around. This doesn't always produce the best results. Sure, they got Julie Andrews for the Queen, but why bother? The character is so paper-thin as to be almost totally inconsequential.
My second Dreamworks annoyance is the constant sight gags. EVERYTHING is a joke. Yes, we live in a post-modern world but this constant gagging on pop culture gets old in a microsecond. It also dates the film horribly. There are so many 90's / early 00's references that watching the film ten years from now will be like watching Saturday Night Live sketches about the Reagan administration- they're kind of funny, but not really since you don't remember half the people they're mocking. These films will not hold up well over time. Kids will see them in 2025 and wonder why their parents are laughing.
I really feel that Dreamworks needs to stop trying to milk the Shrek cash cow and move on to something different. Shrek 3 (and apparently Shrek 4) is already in the works. After whoring out the Shrek cast to hawk everything from candy bars to automobiles, do they really think people won't get sick of it real soon?
A final note- closing the film with "Living la Vida Loca?" To put in so many "hip" pop culture references and then finish the film with a song that nobody thinks is remotely hot anymore shows poor planning on the part of the film makers. At least they ended the first Shrek with "I'm a Believer," a song that some viewers could feel nostalgic about. No one will become nostalgic about this film in the future. It will just remind them of how hollow and unoriginal our current times can be.