Shrek 2 is a 2004 American
computer-animated 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,
[ The-numbers.com Retrieved on 06-05-07 ] as well as the largest opening for an
animated film until May 18, 2007, when it was eclipsed by its sequel
Shrek the Third.[[1] The-numbers.com Retrieved on 06-05-07 ] As of 2008, it is the inflation-adjusted 30th highest-grossing film of all time in the US.
[All Time Box Office Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation at Box Office Mojo] It went on to be the highest grossing film of 2004.
[Boxofficemojo.com Retrieved on 06-05-07 ] The associated
soundtrack reached the top ten of the
Billboard 200. It is also the seventh highest ticket selling animated film of all time.
[All Time Box Office Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation] It is, as well, the highest-grossing fully-animated film of all time
[All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses]and DreamWorks's most successful film to date.
Shrek 2 was also nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to
Pixar's film
The Incredibles.
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 Fiona, finding instead a cross-dressing 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. While Shrek read Fiona's diary and find many words of "Mrs. Fiona Charming", 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, but Mongo is presumably killed when his arms break and he falls into the
moat with Gingy devastated. Shrek finds 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 the Fairy Godmother; it also returns Harold to his true form, that of the
Frog Prince. Lilian had been the princess who kissed him and turned him into a human.
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; the party resumes and the credits begin as they sing "
Livin' La Vida Loca". 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.
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. A 3D-converted version will be released on
Blu-ray Disc in the third quarter of 2010.
Far Far Away Idol
"Far Far Away Idol" is an 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, and at the end the viewer gets to pick the winner.
Cultural references
- In the beginning scene, where we see Shrek and Fiona falling in love, there are references to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, with the ring-making scene and Spider-Man, with Shrek's head being dipped into mud.
- In the Scene when Shrek meets Puss in Boots and attacks him, theres a reference to Alien, where Puss in Boots bursts out of Shrek's shirt.
- Far Far Away is a reference to Hollywood, with the same sign, and when Shrek, Fiona and Donkey enter it, the gates are a parody of Paramount Pictures. Theres also a Starbucks, an Old Navy shop and a Burger King in Far Far Away.
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
[Shrek 2 (2004)] 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 fifth on the all-time domestic box-office list and
twelfth on the worldwide box-office list. The movie also took away the highest grossing by an animated feature which before held by
Finding Nemo. 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.
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.
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".
See also
