Shrek 2
Directed by: Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon
Written by: William Steig, J. David Stem, Joe Stillman, David N. Weiss
Featuring voices of: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Julie Andrews, Antonia Banderas, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, Jennifer Saunders

Shrek 2 is already setting records at the box office and its likely you may have seen it already. So I guess it isn’t my place to recommend this movie or not to anyone. You’ll end up seeing it. Yeah, I know you.

No one seems to be able to resist the CGI animated movies, but I think from Shrek 2 (and the previews to its next movie, Shark Tale) it’s easy to see now that Dreamworks definitely lags behind Pixar in all respects.

That isn’t to say that there isn’t fun to be had in Shrek 2 or its predecessor. You get what you expect, which means yeah, overall its good. Shrek 2 brings more of the same fart jokes, puns and twists regarding fairy tales, more Mike Myers using an accent in every movie he makes, and more of Eddie Murphy’s Donkey being as annoying as is humanly possible. Surprisingly, a lot of the fairy tale material is still fresh, this time offering up the land of Far Far Away to be depicted as an image-driven Hollywood. The addition of Prince Charming, a king and queen and a Fairy Godmother Corporation also offer up the opportunity to dig into a lot of other storybook cliches for laughs. And the addition of Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots steals every scene. There’s another surprise that dominates a good deal of the movie (for the better) which I won’t mention here. Let’s just say this movie is a lot less green.

Unfortunately, there are enough problems in Shrek 2 to, like all other Dreamworks animated films, cause it to fall short of ‘classic’ status. While the storytelling is an improvement overall from the first Shrek film, both the movie’s beginning and end come across as filler. The opening scenes have no purpose and some issues and themes at the end aren’t very well explained.

Other problems from the original Shrek also remain.One, how much like a Saturday Night Live sketch it can feel like at the time (and that’s not a compliment), and two, and it’s a big TWO: The Soundtrack. The problem with Dreamworks Animations regarding soundtrack is their incessant need to mix pop groups (some of them Dreamworks artists, like the Eels) into the movie, for “SYNERGY”, rather than put what actually FITS. While the use of Frou Frou’s “Hero” in an action scene fits, and the surprising Tom Waits musical cameo fits, again we are treated to pointless, unfitting songs in the movie that actually take away from the whole, such as “Livin La Vida Loca” and the Counting Crows’ “Accidentally in Love”.

This to me, signifies one of the key differences between Pixar and Dreamworks. With Pixar, they’ll settle with score and maybe a Randy Newman song, and we know they’re out to make money, but it holds together as a piece of ART. With Dreamworks, it feels kinda empty. Most of the pieces are there, but something is missing. Shrek is funny and its looks nice, but there doesn’t seem to be much art to it. You don’t get taken into its world, it doesn’t really effect you.

To date only Dreamworks’ ANTZ almost reaches the level of a Pixar production. That one unfortunately has been forgotten because both Pixar and Dreamworks put out ant-related animated films at the same time. Forsome reason Dreamworks is about to pull the same unfortunate move by putting out their own undersea fish adventure, just over a year after Finding Nemo. I just don’t get it. — Goon