How many kids’ movies can you think of where a seedy bar gets serenaded by Nick Cave and Tom Waits in Captain Hook form? That alone should have you scouring the streets for children to drag along to the nearest cinema for the rather wonderful Shrek 2. After all, what tot wouldn’t happily bounce along to the strains of ‘People Ain’t No Good’? (Children of a sensitive nature, however, should be advised that the soundtrack also features ‘Funky Town’ and distressingly horrid covers of ‘Changes’ and ‘Ever Fallen In Love?’ )
Everyone’s favourite slime-green marketing phenomenon returns in this rambunctious sequel which successfully recycles the shrewd, irreverent wit of the globe-conquering original.
Now wedded to the lovely ogress-Princess (Diaz), Shrek’s (Myers) domestic bliss is shattered by an invitation from his in-laws to visit their kingdom of Far Far Away – a campy Hollywood parody apparently populated entirely by English character actors. Needless to say, the King (Cleese) and Queen (Andrews) are less than thrilled with their daughter’s choice and her subsequent transformation into a large, voluptuous snot, prompting a Meet The Parents-style meltdown. Further obstacles are thrown in our happy couples’ path by a narcissistic Fairy Godmother (Saunders), her equally preening son, Prince Charming (Everett) and a feline mercenary (Banderas). A riotous concoction of easy-to-crack movie references (Lord Of The Rings, Spiderman, E.T., nothing that didn’t top the $100 million mark), bawdy humour, mild satire and sugary good-nature ensues, and while the plot is considerably more haphazard than first time out, there’s plenty of snarky delirium to compensate. The cross-dressing Pinocchio, the ‘gender confused’ wolf and Prince Charming’s Ginola-baiting hair-flick are splendid, but inevitably, the “annoying talking animals” waltz away with the picture. In Donkey Eddie Murphy has finally found a role to utilise those comic talents many suspected had died with legwarmers.
And while it’s difficult to upstage Murphy when he’s acting the ass, Banderas manages it with his mock-heroic Latin pussy. Now, who among you can resist a movie where Antonio gets to arch his back and purr? Meow.