Just as good as the first

Rating: 9/10 (30 May 2008)

Shrek 2 is a very entertaining sequel and a good family film. This film follows Shrek and Fiona who had just came back from there honeymoon and Fiona's parents, the King and Queen of Far Far Away (get the joke) invite them to visit the kingdom. Unfortunately they don't know that Fiona was turned into a ogre, and not back into her human form. Fiona's dad was shocked, wanting Fiona to marry Prince Charming (this was hinted at in the first film), and admits to have Shrek assassinated by Puss-in-Boots. Shrek then tries to make himself into the man Fiona wants and at the same time Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother plot to get Fiona to fall in love with Prince Charming.
This film works on many levels, it has a decent story and makes fun and uses many aspects of famous fairy tales. The Fairy Godmother is the main villain in this film which is a good twist. The film also parodies many things that could appeal to adults, such as an Alien parody, and there are more general references to films like Lord of the Rings, Mission Impossible and Indiana Jones. There are also cultural references such as Starbucks and a parody of Hollywood. There is a good supporting cast to the film. I liked Antonio Banderas as Puss-in-Boots, Julie Andrews, John Cleese and Rupert Everett. I also thought that it was a very good move to cast Jennifer Saunders as the Fairy Godmother. In the British version we got Jonathan Ross and Kate Thornton in the film which I thought was pretty fun. The animation of the film is top-notch and is possibly the best around. It is the most realistic in style and some of the little details are really good, such as seeing the freckles on Fiona's face. The also has fun little Easter Eggs and need to watch the film again to notice them, such as in the beginning of the film the Big Bad Wolf was reading a 'Pork Illustrated' magazine. I enjoyed the creation of Puss-in-Boots as a character and thought he was great. A little sidenote was that he looked liked my cat who was a young kitten at the time and thought it was a fun coincidence. My only problem of the film was the occasional fart joke, but it is aimed for children, so I can understand why they done it.
Shrek 2 is a very good, but it was a shame that the third on was no where need as good.