Shrek 2

Reviewed by RUSSELL BAILLIE


When you made that much money on the first one, once upon a time was never going to do.

Fortunately, there is enough gas - of the flatulent variety, the big green ogre might be married but his diet hasn't improved - in the tank to make Shrek 2 almost as big a hoot as the first.

It's not as smart a story and its tepid ending gets a big song and dance to cover up the sag.

But of course, much of the joy of the first time round was in its topsy-turvy fairytale world - second time round, you already know the lie of the land and its colourful population.

That said, the Mission: Impossible-styled rescue featuring the Three Blind Mice and Pinocchio's extending nose is hard to write about without stopping for a chuckle.

Likewise, the first was amusing for sending up the Disney empire built on cartoon figures who had the magic sucked out of them over the years.

This one does feature a castle with fireworks that looks like Uncle Walt's Fantasyland, but Shrek 2 has the bigger and softer target of Hollywood as its satirical backdrop.

The Land of Far Far Away comes with its own hillside sign, mansions of the stars (Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella included) and a Rodeo Drive of designer stores like Saxon Fifth Avenue and Versarchery.

It's a fitting backdrop to a story about how it's only meant to be shallow, good-looking people who live happily ever after.

And like the first, Shrek 2 gets some of its best gags from redoing great movie scenes that substitute a couple of jolly green giants.

The opening frolics of newlyweds Shrek and Princess Fiona manage to adapt everything from Lord of the Rings to Spider-Man to From Here to Eternity to About Schmidt in the space of a few hilarious and non-laboured scenes. But then it's home sweet swampy home for Mr and Mrs Shrek, where Donkey is an even more unwelcome guest than he was last time.

There's an invite from Fiona's parents - the rulers of Far Far Away - to visit them and attend a wedding ball in honour of the couple.

Shrek is reluctant to meet the in-laws but soon he and Fiona are off to Far Far Away, complete with Donkey singing the theme from Rawhide in the back seat of their carriage.

They get a reception which is less than royal. The visit does not go well. And the king soon has to find a way out of his deal with a certain fairy godmother and her son Prince Charming who was supposed to save Fiona from the curse that made her an ogre.

Meanwhile, all that family tension means Shrek and Fiona's relationship is under strain, too.

His highness hires an ogre assassin, er, in the form of Puss-In-Boots (neatly voiced in Spanglish by Banderas).

Only, it turns out he is a real pussycat and soon Shrek is burdened with another loyal companion, despite Donkey's view that: "The position of annoying talking animal has already been taken".

There is some business with magic potions and extreme makeovers and the muffin man (who was the great mystery of the first film and doesn't disappoint).

It's not as engaging a story as the first but at least Shrek 2 doesn't suffer from the sequelitis of just retreading part 1.

Its computer animation is an impressive upgrade - especially in a short Cops reality TV spoof - though less seems demanded of it. The last one had a spectacular dragon's lair, this one has a giant gingerbread man.

But all Shrek 2 really needs to do to be worth the ticket price is be half as funny and as magical as the first.

It exceeds those requirements handsomely - in an ugly green guy kind of way.


Cast: The voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas

Director: Andrew Adamson

Rating: PG

Running time: 92 mins

Screening: Village, Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas from Thursday