- “Not so far, far away...”
- ―Tagline
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy adventure comedy family film produced by DreamWorks Animation, directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon. It is the second installment in the Shrek franchise, the sequel to the 2001 film of the same name, and features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders.
Like its predecessor, Shrek 2 received largely positive reviews and was a blockbuster success. Shrek 2 scored the second-largest three-day opening weekend in US history at the time of its release, as well as the largest opening for an animated film until May 18, 2007, when it was eclipsed by its sequel Shrek the Third. It went on to be the highest-grossing film of 2004. It is DreamWorks' most successful film to date and was also the highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide until Toy Story 3 surpassed it in 2010 and remained the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film of all time worldwide until Despicable Me 2 surpassed it in 2013; it is now the 13th highest-grossing animated film of all time. The associated soundtrack reached the top ten of the Billboard 200.
This movie is dedicated to William Steig (the creator of the book "Shrek!") who died in October 3rd, 2003, due to natural causes.
Synopsis
After returning from their honeymoon, Shrek and Fiona learn that her parents have heard that she has married her true love and wish to invite him to their kingdom, called Far Far Away. The catch is: Fiona's parents are unaware of the curse that struck their daughter and have assumed she married Prince Charming, not a 700-pound ogre with horrible hygiene and a talking Donkey pal.
Plot
After Shrek and Fiona return from their honeymoon, they are invited to a royal ball by Fiona's parents to celebrate their marriage. Shrek is reluctant to participate in, reasoning that he is worried about how Fiona's parents would react to her new look. Donkey appears, wanting to move in with them after a fall-out with Dragon, much to their consternation. They all travel to the kingdom of Far Far Away and meet Fiona's parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian, with Harold particularly repulsed by Shrek being an ogre. At a shared meal, Shrek and Harold get into a heated argument over how Shrek and Fiona will raise their family, and Fiona, disgusted by Shrek and Harold's behavior, locks herself away in her room that evening. Shrek worries that he has lost his true love, particularly after finding her childhood diary and reading that she was once infatuated with Prince Charming.
When Fiona realizes that Shrek left she asks her father for help but he replies that he always wanted the best for her and that she should better think about what is the best for her, too. As everyone goes their separate ways, Harold is accosted by the Fairy Godmother and her son Charming. The two retell the Prince's adventures and how he overcame many obstacles and climbed a high tower in order to rescue her but in vain. They reprimand Harold for breaking an old promise that Charming would be able to marry Fiona, and demand that he find a way to get rid of Shrek. Harold arranges for Shrek and Donkey to join him on a fictitious hunting trip, which really is a trap to lure the two into the hands of an assassin, Puss in Boots. However, Puss is unable to defeat Shrek and, revealing that he was paid by Harold, asks to come along as a way to make amends.
The three sneak into the Fairy Godmother's potion factory and steal a Happily Ever After potion that Shrek believes will restore Fiona's love for him. Shrek and Donkey both drink the potion and fall into a deep sleep, awakening the next morning to discover its effects: Shrek is now a handsome human while Donkey has turned into a stallion. In order to make the change permanent, Shrek must kiss Fiona by midnight. He, Donkey, and Puss return to the castle to discover that the potion has also transformed Fiona back into her former, human self. However, the Fairy Godmother, having learned of the potion's theft, intercepts Shrek and sends Charming to pose as him and win her love. At the Fairy Godmother's urging, Shrek leaves the castle, believing that the best way to make Fiona happy is to let her go.
After seeing that Fiona isn't falling in love with Prince Charming, Harold decides to tell the Fairy Godmother and Charming they should call off the plan. They refuse and decide to that they will not be concerned with her feelings. To ensure Fiona falls in love with Charming, the Fairy Godmother gives Harold a love potion to put into Fiona's tea. But Harold replies that it is not possible to make his daughter fall in love in this way as he doesn't want to violate his daughter's free will. This exchange is overheard by Shrek, Donkey, and Puss, who are soon arrested by the royal guards and thrown into a dungeon. While the royal ball begins, several of Shrek's friends band together to free the trio and create a gigantic, oversized Gingerbread Man, which breaks through the castle's defenses so Shrek can stop Charming from kissing Fiona. He is too late to stop them; instead of falling in love with Charming, though, Fiona knocks him out with a headbutt, she slaps him instead in the UK version.
Harold reveals that he never gave Fiona the love potion after seeing how much she hates Prince Charming, whereupon the Fairy Godmother attacks Shrek. In the ensuing melee, a spell from her wand, presumably to kill Shrek, rebounds off Harold's armor, when he commits self-sacrifice to save Shrek and disintegrates her; it also returns Harold to his true form, that of the Frog Prince. He had used the Happily Ever After potion years ago in order to marry Lillian, but she tells him that she loves him regardless of his appearance. As the clock strikes midnight, Shrek and Fiona let the potion's effects wear off and they revert to their ogre selves, while Donkey changes back as well. Harold gives his blessing to the marriage and apologizes for his earlier behavior, and the party resumes as the credits begin.
During the mid-credits, they are interrupted by a brief after-party scene in which the Dragon, who had romanced Donkey in the first movie, arrives and reveals that they now have several dragon-donkey hybrid, or "dronkeys", babies. Afterwards, Donkey mentions that he needs to get a job soon.
Voice Cast
- Mike Myers as Shrek
- Eddie Murphy as Donkey
- Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona
- Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian
- Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots
- John Cleese as King Harold
- Rupert Everett as Prince Charming
- Jennifer Saunders as Fairy Godmother
- Aron Warner as Wolf
- Kelly Asbury as Page, Elf, Nobleman, Nobleman's Son
- Cody Cameron as Pinocchio, Three Pigs
- Conrad Vernon as Gingy, Cedric, Announcer, Muffin Man, Mongo
- Christopher Knights as Blind Mouse
- David P. Smith as Herald, Man with Box
- Mark Moseley as Mirror, Dresser
- Kelly Cooney as Fast Food Clerk
- Wendy Bilanski as Bar Frog
- Larry King as Ugly Stepsister
- Guillaume Aretos as Receptionist
- Chris Miller as Humphries, Magic Mirror
- Latifa Ouaou as Doll, Jill
- Alina Phelan as Maiden #1, Generic Female #2
- Erika Thomas as Maiden #2
- Joan Rivers as herself
- Andrew Adamson as Captain of the Guards
Production
In July 2001, it was reported that the main cast of Shrek were set for huge paychecks for voicing a sequel to the film. Following a successful collaboration with the original film, Eddie Murphy had signed a two-year, first-look production deal with DreamWorks, where he also signed writer-director Todd Field to a two-year deal. The film was produced with a US$70 million dollar budget.
Reception
Box Office
The film opened at #1 with a Friday-to-Sunday total of $108,037,878, and a total of $128, 983,063 since its Wednesday launch, from a then-record 4,163 theaters, for an average of $25,952 per theater over the weekend. At the time Shrek 2's Friday-to-Sunday total was the second-highest opening weekend trailing only Spider-Man's $114,844,116. In addition, Saturday alone managed to obtain $44,797,042, making it the highest single day gross at the time, beating Spider-Man's first Saturday gross of $43,622,264. It also ranked #1 in its second weekend, grossing $95,578,365 over the 4-day Memorial Day weekend, narrowly beating out the $85,807,341 4-day tally of new opener The Day After Tomorrow. The film spent a total of 10 weeks in the weekly top 10 remaining there until Thursday, July 29, 2004, and stayed in theaters for 149 days (roughly 21 weeks), closing on November 25, 2004.
The film grossed $441,226,247 domestically (US and Canada), and $487,534,523 in foreign markets, making a total of $928,760,770 worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of both 2004 and in its franchise. This also puts the film at 10th on the all-time domestic box office list and 35th on the worldwide box office list.
The film also took away the highest worldwide gross made by an animated feature, which was before held by Finding Nemo, although the latter still had a higher overseas-only gross. With DVD sales and Shrek 2 merchandise are estimated to total almost $800 million, the film (which was produced with a budget of $150 million) is DreamWorks' most profitable film to date.
In August 2010, Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 3 surpassed Shrek 2 to become the highest-grossing animated film worldwide ($1.063 billion), but Shrek 2 still holds the record for the highest-grossing animated film at the American and Canadian box office as well as the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film at this box office. Disney's 3D re-releases of The Lion King (in 2011) and Finding Nemo (in 2012), Despicable Me 2 (in 2013), and Disney's Frozen (also in 2013) respectively, surpassed Shrek 2 and relegated it as the 6th highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Critical Response
The film was well received by a number of critics, many rating it good as it's predecessor, and some rated it even better. Based on reviews collected from 217 critics by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 89% gave Shrek 2 a positive review, with the site's consensus stating: "It may not be as fresh as the original, but topical humor and colorful secondary characters make Shrek 2 a winner in its own right." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average of 75 out of 100 based on 40 professional reviews published in newspapers, magazines and in highly regarded Internet sites, which indicates "generally favorable reviews."
Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars saying it's "bright, lively, and entertaining," while Robert Denerstein of Denver Rocky Mountain News called it "Sharply funny." James Kendrick praised the plot, who called it "familiar, but funny."
In contrast to the praise it received, even in some positive reviews, some critics said that the film wasn't as good as the original film. Peter Rainer of New York magazine stated the film "manages to undo much of what made its predecessor such a computer-generated joy ride."
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