SHREK 2 - DVD review

After three years in the waiting from the first release of "Shrek," "Shrek 2" has finally hit the DVD market. For an eleven-year old, like my daughter, the wait seemed an eternity, and as for me, it seemed like the first "Shrek" film was released yesterday. Oh, how time flies when you get older. Pleasantly, though, the wait is always worth it when you know it's a movie you enjoyed in the theater, and an even greater reward to own on DVD.

As part of the marketing campaign for the "Shrek 2" DVD, the movie has been advertised as the number-one comedy of all time. I can only imagine this has something to do with the $436,471,036 gross at the box office alone. Of that total, $108,037,878 was made in its first week alone, and the film managed to hold on for two weeks as number one at the box office, which really isn't saying much considering "Shark Tale" held on to the number-one spot for three weeks, but only managed to gross $47,604,606 in its first week. It just goes to show you that it's all about the residual dollars, and not about how long a film can manage to hold the number-one spot from week to week.

However, and be that as it may, let us not confuse number-one comedy of all time to mean that it is the funniest comedy of all time. I personally enjoyed "Shrek 2," but in all fairness, I really didn't think it was any funnier than its predecessor. There are a few new laughs and a few repeated laughs we got in the first "Shrek." There is plenty of comedy for kids as well as enough jokes to entice adults, too. In other words, it does make for some good family entertainment, regardless if most of the humor is no more than slight chuckles. In fact, the best laughs come in the second half of the movie; thus, the pacing of the first half of the film seems vaguely slow and tedious. Not that this is a bad thing because I find it is better for a film to pick up its pace in the latter half rather than dying a slow death in the end.

In "Shrek 2", we are taken away on another whirlwind adventure with Shrek (Mike Myers), Donkey (Eddie Murphy), and Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) as they are to travel to the kingdom of Far Far Away. Once they arrive, they are to meet Fiona's parents, the King and Queen of Far Far Away, where they are to receive a formal blessing of their marriage. The King and Queen are played by none other than Julie Andrews and the delightfully funny John Cleese. Of course, on their arrival the King and Queen are shocked to find their daughter married to a terrible ogre and to see that their daughter has chosen her cursed appearance as an ogre.

As the plot thickens, we find out that Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) was to be the one to rescue and marry Princess Fiona in the first movie; however, we all know how that turned out. Not to worry, though, Prince Charming's mother happens to be the Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) and will do anything to work her wicked magic in her son's favor. The plan is to get rid of Shrek no matter what the cost so that Prince Charming can move in and take Princess Fiona's hand in marriage.

I certainly found the Fairy Godmother's part to be quite the comical twist on what we have all grown up to think of her. We have always seen the Fairy Godmother as a kind and giving fairy, but this one plays more like a villainess celebrity with a bad eating disorder when she becomes angry. On one of the extras on the DVD, Jennifer Saunders makes a bold statement the she is the real star of the show. Well, I can't say that is all completely true, but she does play the villain's role rather well.

Early on in the second half of the film, we are also introduced to a new character known as Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). Puss in Boots is a charming little cat that plays his part like the notorious, swashbuckling Zorro. Funny how Antonio Banderas is the voice of a character that obviously pokes fun at the character he actually played several years ago. Puss was originally hired by the King to kill Shrek, but upon meeting Shrek and Donkey, he finds that he has misjudged his victim and decides to befriend them. Puss is certainly a charming and delightful addition to the duo of Shrek and Donkey, and if there is to be a "Shrek 3," I'm certain Puss will be there again.

As in the first "Shrek", there are plenty of inside jokes that poke fun at corporate America. It's quite obvious that the Kingdom of Far Far Away is a direct pun on Disney World, yet it also looks like Hollywood. One of my favorite scenes is when our new trio hires the Muffin Man to bake a giant-sized gingerbread man. The gingerbread man terrorizes the kingdom of Far Far Way much like what we would see in a Godzilla movie. He finds a Farbucks coffee house to terrorize, which looks identical to Starbucks, logo and all. Below, the townspeople run screaming in terror from the Farbucks coffee shop and run across the street to hide in another Farbucks. This, of course, is a direct pun on the Starbucks empire, which I found to be a total riot.

Yet another scene pokes fun at the television reality show "Cops." Instead of being called "Cops," the show is titled "Knights." In this scene, we watch the Knights bust Donkey and Shrek and throw them into a horse-driven patty wagon. The funniest take-off is when the Knights arrest Puss in Boots and find a bag of catnip in his possession. Of course, Puss's reaction is, "It's not mine." And this is but a few of the inside jokes that are so ever present in "Shrek 2." As with the first film, you really need to pay close attention, or you may simply miss the jokes altogether. However, if you do miss anything, then this is what makes the film fun to watch a second time. As for me, I have an eleven-year old daughter, so I'm sure I'll end up seeing this movie more times than I'll need to.

Bottom line is, "Shrek 2" is a charming and delightful film with as much zest and vigor as its original from 2001. I can't say it was funnier or better than its predecessor was, but it is close enough to be just as entertaining as the first. Even the overall theme is the same, and that is the message that true beauty is on the inside. I personally prefer Jim Carrey's view on this metaphor in the movie "Liar Liar" when his son, Max, tells him that his teacher says "beauty is on the inside." Carrey replies, "That's just something ugly people say."

Video:
The video is presented in the theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. As can be expected with this type of animation, the colors are quite vivid and very brilliant. I can't say that it was as sharp as I was expecting, and it seemed slightly blurred. However, there is literally nothing when it comes to grain or murky tones. Overall, the picture is quite acceptable, but I can't help wonder what the compression rate was on the transfer. Due to the slight blur I noticed, I could only imagine that there will be a special edition of this film soon, and hopefully the issue will be addressed.

Audio:
The audio is presented in English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as English and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0. The sound is very well balanced, with a decent range of bass and mid tones. Rear and center tones were crisp and as clean as can be expected for a film of this type. There's really very little to complain about even for a movie that may or may not be considered a "show-off" DVD for friends and family when it comes to audio.

Extras:
First of all, let me talk about the packaging. Recently, I've noticed that many Universal releases have been using little snap-clips on the opening side of the case. DreamWorks has now adapted this new type of change for its standard case as well. In some ways, it's nice because it keeps the case more secure when closed, but if you're not used to it, it can be a bit annoying to get the hang of when opening the case. Also, when purchasing this DVD be warned that there is a fullscreen edition of the movie, too. Look to the bottom right corner of the cover to make sure you're getting the version you want.

Another annoying issue I need to point out is DreamWorks seems to have taken suit from Universal and has placed "forced-previews" on this DVD. And these are the worst kind of forced-previews because you can only fast-forward, and are not allowed to do a direct skip to the main menu. Why DreamWorks has chosen to do such a thing to annoy its audience, I have no clue. I can only hope that other studios do not follow this same pattern, as it is something that is hated by the buying public, me included.

Unlike the first "Shrek" DVD that came on two discs along with a fullscreen and widescreen of the movie, "Shrek 2" comes on a single disc, and as I pointed out, make sure you get the right screen ratio you want. And compared to "Shrek," the "Shrek 2" extras are not as robust. The big surprise ending that has been advertised is really nothing more than an added feature known as "Far Far Away Idol." In this feature, we get to watch the characters of "Shrek" sing various songs as they are being judged by Shrek, Fiona, and an animated version of Simon Cowell. It's charming, but it is certainly geared towards kids. Regardless, it really is not a surprise ending to the movie and can be accessed through the main menu as an added feature.

The menu itself is laid out like the Hollywood squares, with each character taking up his or her own square. Donkey, of course, never stops talking and annoys the other characters no end. Nevertheless, click on the extra features to access the added goodies. The bonus features that come with this disc include a filmmakers' commentary, some very short featurettes that that include "Meet the Cast," "The Tech of Shrek 2," "Meet Puss in Boots," "The Music of Shrek 2," "Technical Goofs," and the usual previews and technical notes. As I said, most all of these features are very short and not as completely insightful as one might expect. It's pretty much the usual extras you get from a standard release that is not considered a special edition.

On the kids' side, there is a slew of extras that includes games and trivia. These are accessed through the main menu by choosing "DreamWorks Kids." In here, you can access the "Far Far Away Idol" game again, play in "Shrek's Music Room," view "Favorite Scenes," play games in "Gingy's House of Games," and access "Shrek 2 Web Links," as well as a print shop to print your favorite character. I have to admit, pretty much all of the kid's extras are geared toward children aged three to eight. Most of the games are short, redundant, and only worth playing once. However, for really young children, I'm sure they'll find these features delightful.

Parting Thoughts:
Even before the first "Shrek" film was released back in 2001, I had always said it would be great to see Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy in a comedy together. With the talents of the both of them playing multiple characters in their films, (Murphy in "The Nutty Professor" and Myers in the "Austin Powers" movies), it's a wonder no one has come up with a script to have them play multiple roles together. Granted, the late Peter Sellers was actually one of the men who personified the idea of multiple characters in comedy, it would still be quite entertaining to see what Myers and Murphy could accomplish. For now, the "Shrek" franchise will have to do.