The Critics Speak

Shrek II

Critic: Steph Lewis
On a scale of 0 to Awesome, I rate this: Fun
Released: May 19, 2004
Director: Conrad Vernon, Kelly Asbury, Andrew Adamson
MPAA Rating: PG, for some crude humor, a brief substance reference and some suggestive content

It got me to laugh several times, and I didn't have to look at my watch. Once again Dreamworks made a beautiful animated film. It is incredibly creative from the design of the buildings to the costume design. The script is fresh and funny, but it is obvious that it is a "part II" script. I thought Antonio Banderas kicked some booty as Puss n' Boots, and of course Mike Myers & Cameron Diaz were right on as usual. Though all of the actors were spot on in their voices, the true winners of this movie are the animators. They maintained their characters and attention to detail throughout, making the characters real and believable.

I loved when the gingerbread man crushed one Farbucks, and the people ran across the street in fear, to find shelter in the other Farbucks. Being a Starbucks fan, I got a good chuckle out of it.

One fear I have for this movie is that it is not timeless. It had a lot of cultural references which makes us laugh today. I don't think it has what it takes to be truly appreciated ten years from now.

I did really appreciate its fresh mockery of fairy tales. As a speech coach/judge, I grow tired of fairy tale mockeries. This one, however, has two strong characters (Shrek & Fiona) who are trapped in the common fairy tale, and do not conform. It is okay to be an ugly ogre if that's who you are. They accept and embrace who they are as they were meant to be, which is a lesson this tummy-tucked botoxed generation could stand to hear.