Shrek 2

I went out on Sunday (yes, four days ago) with my sister and mother to see Shrek 2. Here are my thoughts about the latest release from Dreamworks:

With the whiz-bang, in-your-face performance of Shrek of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and the (almost too obnoxiously loud) Eddie Murphy and the Dreamworks CG team, it was tough to not expect a Shrek 2 performance that is better than the original animation. It met some expectations, while exceeding others.

The storyline picks up where Shrek ended: the honeymoon for the newly weds that passes quickly, and Shrek and Fiona returns to the swamp. A message comes to Fiona by a small sortie of messengers: her parents requests that she and her and her new husband go home to visit so that the newlyweds may receive a blessing from the king and queen. From there, the story takes off in same twisted path that Shrek took.

Like its predecessor, Shrek 2 is a clever piece of work with a lot of thought put into it. There are more verbal and visual gags, but less action. And it's noticably darker, an area animation doesn't even dare to venture these days. Many homages and spoofs on many recent blockbuster movies saturate the movie, as well as many spoofs and abuses on well-known fairy tales and other animation productions (mostly geared towards the Disney productions). Generally, there is a lot more gagging and poking at previous works, making this movie a riot. It also has a little bit of something for everyone, for children, teens, and adults, unlike a certain animation group (ahem.. *Disney*). But it does come close in several areas to reek of Disney when characters start to break out in song and dance. Don't worry. In no way are characters and songs stereotyped. In fact, the lyrics are gems within themselves.

A nod especially goes to Antonio Banderas whose Puss-in-Boots spoof of Zorro is over the top. It, by itself, was worth the ticket price (matinee showing, of course).

As for me, after sitting through the 100 minutes, I (overall, at least for my age bracket) was pretty ambivalent to the movie. The premise of Shrek has become slightly more like an old couple that has gotten used to the spouse's existence with their lover's quarrels and all. It doesn't mean that the movie was bad; the movie just doesn't seem to be suitable for a guy my age other than the eyecandy. That, I've expected too much from watching too much anime. I can commend that the CG was absolutely stunning in execution and planning that is (of course) better than the predecessor, and that several characters have been improved in their roles in the movie. Unfortunately, American animation has hit a brick wall with the many stale templates that have been repeated ad nauseum. Shrek 2 put up against that same template, there are similarities, but at least it shines brightly. Expect Shrek 3 to be released in two years.

The Shrek franchise is moving in the right direction towards expanding the animation medium to encompass all possible age groups. I hope Dreamworks will keep the effort going to expand the real potential of animation that anime (from Japan) has already done for the last twenty-plus years