This article is about the featured computer-animated film. For the video game, see
Shrek 2 (video game).
Shrek 2 is a 2004 computer-animated American comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the second film in the Shrek series and the sequel to 2001's Shrek. The film features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett and Jennifer Saunders.
Shrek 2 scored the fourth largest three day opening weekend in US history,[2] as well as the largest opening for an animated film until May 18, 2007, when it was eclipsed by its sequel Shrek the Third.[3] As of 2008, it is the inflation-adjusted 30th highest-grossing film of all time in the US.[4] It went on to be the highest grossing film of 2004.[5] The associated soundtrack reached the top ten of the Billboard 200. It is also the seventh highest ticket selling animated film of all time.[6] It is, as well, the highest-grossing fully-animated film of all time[7]and DreamWorks's most successful film to date.
Plot
When Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) and Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) come back from their honeymoon, they find an invitation to a royal ball with Fiona's parents to celebrate their marriage, an event Shrek is reluctant to participate in. Fiona talks him into it, and along with Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy), they travel to the kingdom of Far Far Away. They meet Fiona's parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian (voiced by John Cleese and Julie Andrews), who are surprised and repulsed by Fiona's choice of husband (particularly the King himself), since they had arranged that Prince Charming rescue her from the castle but now they see that her husband is 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 at Shrek and her father's behavior, locks herself away in her room that evening, where she meets her Fairy Godmother (voiced by Jennifer Saunders), who is also surprised at Fiona's new looks. 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 (voiced by Rupert Everett).
King Harold is accosted by the Fairy Godmother and Charming, her son. The two retell the Prince's adventures and how he overcame many obstacles and climbed a high tower in order to rescue her finding instead a crossdressing wolf. 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 (voiced by Antonio Banderas).
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. 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.
To ensure that 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's not possible to make his daughter fall in love in this way. 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 gingerbread man (whose name is Mongo), 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. Harold reveals that he never gave Fiona the love potion, 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. They are interrupted by a brief after-party scene in which the Dragon, who had romanced Donkey in the first film, arrives and reveals that they now have several dragon-donkey hybrid, or "Dronkey", babies.
Cast
Special guest stars
Joan Rivers' cameo marked the first time that a real person had been represented on screen by the Shrek animation team. Her part (though retaining her visual representation) was redubbed by presenter Kate Thornton for the United Kingdom release, despite Rivers and her image being equally as well-known there.
Release
In April 2004, the film was selected for competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
Shrek 2 was originally going to release in June 2004. The film then planned to release on May 21, 2004. Though, Shrek 2 released on May 19, 2004 (two days before). A day before the film went to theaters, the first five minutes were shown on Nickelodeon's U-Pick Live.
It was the first film with over 4,000 theaters in overall count; over 3,700 theaters was its count for an opening day. Spider-Man 2 was the first film with over 4,000 theaters for an opening day and second for overall counts.
When the film was released on DVD on November 5, 2004, it was the second Shrek film to be presented in its original ratio of 1.85:1 on the Region 1 anamorphic widescreen DVD.
Home media releases
This film has been released on VHS, Gameboy Game Paks and DVD. It has yet to be released on Blu-ray Disc
Far Far Away Idol
Far Far Away Idol is a extra in the DVD release based on American Idol and guest starring Simon Cowell. The plot was that characters from Shrek would sing and dance popular songs at the time, at the end the viewer gets to pick the winner. The short film was directed by the Consultant/Advisor of the film, Simon J. Smith who was director of Shrek 4-D and the Bee Movie
Features
- Technical Goofs
- Meet Puss in the Boots
- Filmmakers' Commentary
- The Tech of Shrek 2
- A Sneak Peek from DreamWorks Animation
- DreamWorks Kids
- "Far Far Away Idol", a parody of the popular FOX talent show American Idol.
Reaction
Box office performance
The film opened at #1 with a Friday-to-Sunday total of $108,037,878, and a total of $128,983,060 since its Wednesday launch, from a then-record 4,163 theaters, for an average of $25,952 per theater over the weekend. 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, and stayed in theaters for 149 days (roughly 21 weeks), closing on November 25, 2004. It grossed $441,226,247[8] domestically (US and Canada), and $478,612,511 in foreign markets, making a total of $919.8 million worldwide making it the highest grossing film of 2004, and the highest-grossing film into the film series. This also puts the film at fourth on the all-time domestic box-office list and tenth on the worldwide box-office list. 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[8]) is DreamWorks' most profitable film to date.
Critical reception
The film was well received by a number of critics, many rating it as good as its predecessor, and some rated it even better. Based on reviews collected from 204 critics by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 89% gave Shrek 2 a positive review.[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average rating 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".[10]
See also
References
External links
