There’s not a lot one can say about Shrek that everyone else has not already said. The character’s emergence in 2001 from Dreamworks Studios as a response to Disney’s dominance during the 90’s and the tropes of their fairytale narrative became an unexpected hit with audiences, who really responded to the satirical but good-hearted nature of the first movie.
From there, Shrek became an icon of animation, on par with many of the Mouse House’s more noteworthy works. So naturally, there was a lot riding on Dreamworks to deliver a sequel that was able to live up to the legacy of the original and set up a franchise that the company could profit from for years to come.
While it’s up for debate whether the second goal was achieved, in my mind, there’s no question that the first one was. Shrek 2 is a brilliant work of comedy and satire, that doubles down on the ridicule of the fairy tale tropes of the first one, in a way I think is smarter, sharper and more topical. On top of that, it still manages to deliver on strong emotional moments for the main characters, introduce some truly iconic secondary ones, and ends on a climax so good that it rivals climaxes of any movie in any genre.
But don’t take my word on it, I’ll explain my reasons. Shrek 2, released in 2004, follows up on the first one’s plot, finding Shrek and Fiona returning from their honeymoon, only to be immediately invited to come to Fiona’s land of origin, Far Far Away, to meet her parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian, who long to see their daughter after her imprisonment by the Dragon.
Upon arriving there however, the parents are surprised to see that Fiona is now permanently an ogre, and that she has married an ogre, as is the entire community of Far Far Away. Tensions rise between the characters and in the midst of this, a sinister plot is put into motion by the movie’s villain: Fiona’s Fairy Godmother, who seeks to separate Shrek and Fiona in order to have her son, Prince Charming, marry her instead.
What follows is a story that digs deeper into the poignant themes already established in the first movie, in an insightful way. Specifically, Shrek has dealt with his insecurities regarding whether Fiona can love him despite him being an ogre. However, he still has to come to terms with the fact that the society of this world is not totally acceptant of their relationship.
So, in this movie he begins to question whether he deserves the happy ending he got with Fiona, and whether he might have robbed her of the happy ending she deserved, and that her family wanted for her. This is quite compelling dramatic storytelling, and it goes further than the original in making Shrek a relatable protagonist, which is a key goal of these movies.
Shrek of course, is not perfect, and acts in this movie in quite rude ways to pretty much everyone, including Fiona, but it comes from his inability to handle the insecurities he still has about himself, which are only compounded by the prospect of being paraded around a whole kingdom as the supposed “Prince Charming”, not to mention meeting his in-laws.
By story’s end he knows he deserves Fiona, she chose him as he is, she loves him as an ogre, not the Prince Charming he tries to turn himself into during the movie, and he loves her back, and that should be enough for him and everyone else. That’s as deep of a fairytale story arc as you could ask for and I really commend the writers for addressing all these issues in a 90-minute runtime.
Of course, on top of that is well, everything else. Stellar amongst the roster of added characters are Puss in Boots, the Fairy Godmother and her son, the real Prince Charming. The former is just a brilliant comedic addition, excellently voiced by Antonio Banderas, he provides some of the movie’s best moments, being cute, smooth as hell, and on top of that, hilarious. He steals every scene he’s in.
The latter two are wonderful as the movie’s villains, and another brilliant jab at Disney fairytale tropes. Besides being pretty damn funny themselves, they are also quite menacing, a step up from Farquaad, and the choices the movie makes in how it presents them are so well executed, from Charming being a pretty vain, image-obsessed, spoiled jerk, to her mother being a power-hungry maniacal CEO of a spell and potions commercial empire.
Old favorites are back of course. Donkey is in my opinion, funnier here and less annoying. Fiona is just as capable and sympathetic. And Shrek’s fairytale friends like Pinocchio, the Big Bad Wolf, the Gingerbread Man and the rest appear sparingly enough to not be overbearing but end up also coming in at the perfect time for some excellent jokes.
Animation and music are just as good. The visuals are a step up from before, with an increased budget there is more flair to the effects, especially in action scenes, and given that Shrek and Donkey change appearances during the movie, the artists manage to retain their original features quite well, so that you can always see the characters you know under the new looks. The use of known songs is also just as well implemented, with the obvious highlight being the amazing cover rendition of “I Need a Hero” by the Fairy Godmother (major props to Jennifer Saunders for her impeccable voice work on that).
Finally, I’ll address what might be my favorite thing about the movie. The humor. Shrek 2’s comedy comes from mostly referential jokes and quick gags, but they are all so well timed and creative that I laugh every time I watch the movie, even after 17 years. The references especially are so broad and so creative, touching on Mission Impossible, Cops, Godzilla, Frankenstein, Burger King, Hawaii Five-O, Starbucks, the Hollywood sign, Lord of the Rings, The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, the story of the Frog Prince and so many others. Just the idea of having Far Far Away look like a medieval version of Beverly Hills, with everyone gossiping about Shrek and Fiona is a great idea.
I honestly can’t come up with anything wrong with this movie worth addressing. I’m sure if you dig deep enough you could find more than a few flaws perhaps, but I really only see brilliant writing on display when I watch this movie. I definitely prefer it to the first one and I hope you consider rewatching it if you haven’t recently, and just take in the way every scene hits you with laugh after laugh, on top of a pretty compelling and emotional story about love and acceptance. Shrek 2 is the best of the four for me, and I don’t see that ever changing.