Jun. 13, 2004 - 11:45 am
i really enjoyed the first Shrek movie, so I had been having an urge to go see this one while it was still on at the theater. especially since i had two free passes from Regal to see a movie. i love those bonus points you get from them. Steve from the Media Center has a very goofy sense of humor, so this is right up his alley as well. we went together after work.
in this film Shrek and Fiona are married and they go to visit Fiona's royal parents in their kingdom of "Far Far Away." needless to say it takes them quite a while to get there. the bad thing is that Fiona's parents don't realize that Fiona is now completely an ogre, and that her new husband is as well. they don't take kindly to this. the king quickly decides that he hates Shrek and that he's going to do everything he can to get rid of him and get Fiona together with Prince Charming (who is actually a complete tool). the king also sends Puss In Boots to kill Shrek, but he turns out to not be much of a threat and he ends up helping out Shrek and Donkey through their trials.
first of all let me say that i love the soundtrack to this movie. they've included some excellent songs along with some of my favorite musicians. they've got Dashboard Confessional, Frou Frou, The Eels, Counting Crows, and i also thoroughly enjoyed the appearance of Tom Waits as the singing Captain Hook at the Poison Apple bar. wonderful soundtrack. the best I've heard in a long time.
i also really enjoy any comedy that does tons of other movie references and homages a la The Mummy Returns (2001). this movie was full of them. things like Lord of the Rings, E.T., Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Street Fighter 2, Flashdance, Ghostbusters...the list goes on and on. then there are also tons of references to other types of fairy tales and fantasy stories. it's really hilarious the whole package they've put together. kids will love it, but so will all of us that have seen tons of movies and have been around for too many years to have fun anymore. i'm not sure what that sentence means but i'm moving on.
great movie and i highly recommend that you go see it. you'll enjoy yourself. do i like it better than the first one? hmmm...i'll say i like it equally well.