Funnier than the original

Rating: 9/10 (10 July 2004)

I was not a huge fan of the original SHREK and think it is vastly overrated. Enjoyable, but not great.
SHREK 2 bored me at first and I was unimpressed but after the half hour mark it suddenly picked up with the Puss in Boots' entrance. This is one of the funniest films I've seen this summer, crammed with pop culture references (love the COPS spoof and all the signs in the background of Far Far Away advertising fake films), and a surprising amount of adult humor -- more than the original. ("Catnip!" "Uh, that's not mine.")
The jokes aren't quite as knowing as the first one and it spoofs fairy tales more than the first did. The original SHREK seemed more bent on poking fun at the whole hero-rescues-princess notion; SHREK 2 spoofs every classic fairy tale legend.
Overall SHREK 2 is a pure summer delight and much funnier than the first. Somehow the approach to the series seems very different from the original SHREK (the simplicity, I suppose, is gone) but it's hilarious for all ages.
4.5/5