Having wrapped Shrek up as a one-off standalone film, it is a challenge
to take the story further, but the plot is reasonable enough, if somewhat thin;
it's time to meet the parents. Princess Fiona's folks, the King and Queen of Far
Far Away invite the happy couple over for a royal ball to celebrate their
wedding.Unfortunately, both expect their daughter to have married the gorgeously
dashing Prince Charming, not the Jolly Green Giant himself. That the spell
which locks Princess Fiona in her own Ogress appearance was not broken by a
kiss from Prince Charming sits heavily on the King's shoulders and he embarks
upon setting matters right.
Almost all of the plot can be gleaned or guessed at from watching a handful of
television trailers heralding Shrek 2's arrival; Donkey becomes a
graceful Mare having taken a potion, and it's pretty obvious that this magical
potion would be used to some effect within the film upon Shrek and Princess
Fiona, and unsurprisingly it is.
What is surprising is the film's sub-plot on racial tolerance which is very
cleverly crafted and weaved into the narrative. That both choose to remain as
Ogres rather than retain their human forms avoided a happy but somewhat staid
and expected ending. Of course, doing anything different would have thrown the
two main characters to the wind and potentially jeopardised the forthcoming
sequels.
Although the plot is thin, it is hardly weak, and it is just one
part of the film. The luscious animation is even better than in the original and
there has been some absolutely amazing attention paid to detail, especially in
facial expressions and lighting. Although there is still some way to go before
an animated character passes as completely human, the time when that will arrive
is getting closer. Small incremental improvements often go unnoticed, and it is
only when you notice the stomach contouring of the Queen that you realise just
how committed those involved in the effort to bring the characters to life have
been.
There were a few cases where it appeared that the animation had been designed
as a "Look what we can do" showcase - especially the puppy dog - but there were
some spectacular set pieces well worthy of applause.
As in Shrek it is perhaps the background detail which makes the film so
enjoyable. The occasional dig at Disney can be found, and modern day icons
have been cleverly woven into the screenplay. That "Knights", a parody of
Cops, managed to pull in a drugs reference without losing it's
"U" ( Approved Viewing for All Ages ) rating, was interesting, and there was
a subtle slipping of some minor swear words in to entertain the older audience
while breezing over the heads of the youngsters.
My biggest complaint is over the re-hashing of musical numbers, mostly well
known pop songs. Some were tolerably delivered, but much was weak, with
Frou Frou's Holding Out For A Hero lacking intensity and vitality, the
pitifully subdued, insepid reworking of Ever Fallen In Love by Pete Yorn
even more so and entirely misplaced conceptually within the film, while, to me,
Butterfly Boucher truly massacred Bowie's classic, Changes, although it
appears that Bowie approved the version and even featured on the remake, so what
do I know ?
If Shrek 2 is looking to
grab the Oscar for best song, then the only outstanding musical offering was
People Ain't No Good from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, and it got only
background air play on screen. The soundtrack for Shrek got itself a
Grammy Award; I suspect that for Shrek 2 is unlikely to, although some
have nothing but praise for that which I hated. Maybe it's a 'generation
thing' ?
It is fair to say that Shrek 2 is a masterpiece of animation technology,
but it doesn't shine as brilliantly as the original. If the series falls
victim to over commercialisation, marketing franchises and the like, then it
will be a shame. The plethora of characters we are presented with in
Shrek 2 is a marketing department's dream, and there is a slight taste
left in the mouth that the series has become driven by financial motivation
rather than for artistic achievement. The raft of Shrek related
product advertising before the showing is testament to the value of what the
marketing department have in their hands. It is a fine line between, iconic
reference, product parody and product placement.
This time Shrek 2 survives; an animation classic, with voice actors who
bring their characters to life, which pushes the less than exhilarating plot
to the background. If DreamWorks can move it up a notch, giving us astounding
animation, incredible plot and superb acting, then they will be on to a major
winner. They did well, but they could do better.
