 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
Shrek 2
Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon.
 The big green guy is back in Shrek 2
Lets face it, most sequels suck. In fact I can count the number of excellent sequels on one hand,
So, does the highly anticipated Shrek 2 live up to expectations? Fortunately yes, thanks in no small part to the addition of some new faces. And there's one face in particular that stands out. It's a face that's so cute, so adorable, so appealing, with huge black pools of eyes you could drown in... and don't forget the sexy Latin accent. I am of course speaking about Puss-in-Boots (Antonio Banderas). But I'm getting ahead of myself...
We all thought Shrek (Mike Myers) and his new bride, Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) would live happily ever after in their little love nest/swamp, right? Wrong! We forgot about the in-laws. (And the fact that the original Shrek made squillions so of course there would be a sequel!)
The king (John Cleese) and queen (Julie Andrews) are anxious to meet their new son-in-law so before you can say "three blind mice" Shrek, Fiona and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) are on their way to the Kingdom of Far Far Away to do some family bonding and be guests of honour at a ball celebrating their marriage.
One little, itsy bitsy problem... the king and queen have no idea their daughter has married an ogre. She was supposed to fall in love with Price Charming (Rupert Everett).
Under pressure from the Prince's mum, The Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders), the king hires an assassin to get rid of Shrek. This notorious hitman is none other than Puss-in-Boots. Meow!
And if you want to know what happens... see the movie!
Admittedly I took a little while to warm to Shrek 2 but I was soon completely hooked and thoroughly enjoying the brilliant animation, the fun story, the great characters and best of all, (especially for all you film buffs out there) the many in-jokes and homages to other movies. And I'm totally besotted with Puss-in-Boots.
I don't think anyone who loves the original Shrek will be disappointed with this follow-up. There aren't many films you can take your five-year-old to and still be really entertained yourself. And just like the original, the soundtrack rocks!
Shrek 2 gets a big thumbs up from me and is a rare "must see again".
And make sure not to leave too early or you'll miss the hilarious epilogue that follows the credits.
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