Shrek 2 Review

I went to see Shrek 2 with the kiddos on Wednesday night. I came away thinking that it was a very good movie but just not on par with the original. The first Shrek movie was a satire a comedy and a love story all wrapped into one. You left the movie theater after seeing the first one with a good feeling in the pit of your stomach.

The second Shrek movie comes off as sorta "next in a series of wacky adventures" and you may leave the theater with a smile on your face but it just wasn't the same.

If you saw Rocky in the theater - then you remember the great feeling of being able to take on the world you had when leaving the theater. None of the subsequent Rocky movies were able to duplicate that same original good feeling but that didn't stop them from making four sequels. The same will be true of Shrek. The sequels will never truly equal the original but that won't stop the studio from pumping out the movies (Shrek 3 and Shrek 4 are already on the drawing boards - wait do CGI folks use drawing boards?).

Probably the most enjoyable thing about the movie is picking out the subtle references like the sign for "Burger Prince", the theater showing "Lethal Arrow 4", etc.

At the end of the movie there is a brief "In Memory of William Steig" who passed away this October at age 95. I didn't recognize the name but Steig was the creator of the Shrek characters (just thought you should know in case you had the same question).

I will also point out that there is no extra scene at the end of the credits - so wait till the end of the credits if you want but all you'll get is credits.