A grave disappointment

Rating: 1/10 (20 December 2004)

The original Shrek is one of my favourite films and one which I have enjoyed many times with my family. This movie is banal and unoriginal. The premise is weak and does not provide sufficient scope for plot development. The characterisations have not developed, the cast appears to be cruising and using Jennifer Saunders was a big mistake which shows how poor British character acting is compared to American. The movie references which worked before are unsurprising, un-entertaining and VERY self-indulgent. In short, this movie appears to have been developed by a committee which sought to work within the requirements of the formula of the first movie as it saw it and in its lack of understanding, produced something totally lacking the magic of the fist movie. This is the old, old story of art vs. commerce and this film is a salutory example of what can go wrong. Don't bother.