Product Details

• Actors: Andrew Adamson, Julie Andrews, Guillaume Aretos (II), Kelly Asbury, Antonio Banderas
• Directors: Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Dreamworks Animated
• VHS Release Date: November 5, 2004
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (480 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JMQY
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #827 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Video > Comedy > Comedy Stars > Eddie Murphy
  #3 in	Video > Comedy > Comedy Stars > John Cleese

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The lovably ugly green ogre returns with his green bride and furry, hooved friend in Shrek 2. The newlywed Shrek and Princess Fiona are invited to Fiona's former kingdom, Far Far Away, to have the marriage blessed by Fiona's parents--which Shrek thinks is a bad, bad idea, and he's proved right: The parents are horrified by their daughter's transformation into an ogress, a fairy godmother wants her son Prince Charming to win Fiona, and a feline assassin is hired to get Shrek out of the way. The computer animation is more detailed than ever, but it's the acting that make the comedy work--in addition to the return of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, Shrek 2 features the flexible voices of Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins), John Cleese (Monty Python's Flying Circus), Antonio Banderas (Desperado), and Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) as the gleefully wicked fairy godmother. --Bret Fetzer

From The New Yorker
The happily ogred couple of Shrek (Mike Myers) and Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) visit Fiona's disapproving parents, King Harold (John Cleese) and Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews), and get assaulted at the palace by an aerial Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) who has some sort of crooked deal going with the king whereby her son, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett), gets to marry Fiona. Or something like that. Will Shrek and Fiona be tempted into human beauty and give up their natural state of ogretude? Will Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss-in-Boots (Antonio Banderas), a duelling cat, help them retain their honor and beautiful green complexion? The movie is obvious, but consistently entertaining and animated in DreamWorks's "realistic" digitized style. Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon; written by J. David Stem, Joe Stillman, and David N. Weiss, who adapted, from a great distance, characters originally created by William Steig. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Smartest Family Satire Ever Made, May 21, 2004

By	Kaya Savas (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews

STORY: This fairy tale satire continues right from the first movie as Shrek and Fiona are on their honeymoon. Prince Charming finally reaches the castle only to find the "gender confused" big bad wolf reading Pork Illustrated. The movie is basically focusing on the self awareness of who Shrek and Fiona really are. The fairy godmother of Fiona and the mother of Charming is out to make sure that Fiona falls in love with Charming and not Shrek. As Shrek is lost in the woods he stumbles upon the masterfully crafted character that is Puss In Boots. Puss is probably one of the greatest fictional characters of all time, he is played to perfection by Antonio Banderas. The first Shrek was a slight satire on the fairy tale genre. Shrek 2 is an unbelievable high on satirical parody (if that makes sense). The pop culture references come flying in one after the other. I really feel that any body under 12 will not get most of the jokes made in this movie. For the kids we have the farting and the burping and for the more learned individual we have references to gender confused wolves, cats on catnip, meeting the in-laws, crazy wooden boys with strange fetishes, the ass, and tons more. There is no way that anybody cannot watch this movie and not laugh. If you need to compare Shrek 2 to something look at it as a lighter version of a Family Guy, Airplane, or Hot Shots type of thing. While the references are not as exaggerated as they are in parodies such as Hot Shots, they are very well placed and well executed. While many people feel that the story and the "heart" that the first movie had was lost within the many gags there is still that "heart" that the characters possess. Yes, the ending is your typical fairy tale ending that has a valuable moral, but then again this is a fairy tale. This movie is smart, funny, and overall a well-crafted piece of work.

ACTING: All the former cast members return as well as the noticeable additions of John Cleese, Julie Andrews, and Antonio Banderas. I can't express just how funny Puss In Boots is. Without Puss the movie would without a doubt have been really boring and "kiddyish" if you will. The most humorous jokes are deployed in the film's ending which is a hysterical romp. John Cleese plays the enraged father and Julie Andrews as the accepting mother. Prince Charming is played by Rupert Everett, and really his only funny scene was when they stopped by drive thru and he got a kiddie meal and was wearing one of those paper crowns as found in burger king. The cast makes the film, Puss makes the film.

BOTTOM LINE: The kids will not find this one funny except for the small amount of fart gags. The people who will find this the most amusing will be in the range of 15 to about 50. Anything above 50 might find any kind of animation too childish and will probably stay away from this one unless they have young kids. The animation by Dreamworks is fantastic as well, make note of the scene in the rain and just how realistic the natural surroundings look. Shrek 2 is faster and funnier than the original and should become a classic just because of how smart the movie is.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars super-clever, family-safe, instant classic, June 7, 2004

By	Shelley Shay (Denton, TX **(God Bless the USA!!)**) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I first saw this with some friends, then took my parents to see it the next day. I was amazed at how many little nuances I missed the first time around. This film is jam-packed with hidden tongue-in-cheek jokes and visual humor - there is so much detail. This film is a delight for young children to the senior set and everyone inbetween.

Eddie Murphy is back as the lovable Donkey - his is perfect in this role and personally, I think he (Donkey) should have his own spin-off movie. This one character is a movie unto himself.

Joining the crew from the original Shrek installment are Julie Andrews (Fiona's mother), John Cleese (her father), Antonio Banderas (Puss-n-Boots) and Jennifer Saunders (the naughty Fairy Godmother).

The clever ways in which the screenwriters twisted the fairytale characters while still giving them reverence and respect is enough to make you cry from laughing so hard. There are inferences to movies such as "Flashdance" and "Mission Impossible" and many others. Pinnocchio is no doubt a wooden embodiment of Michael Jackson (high-pitched voice, good dancer, longs to be a little boy, etc.) and there are many inferences to famous people... there is even a helicopter view of police chasing a white bronco!

There were very few moments in this film in which I was not laughing outloud or doubled-over - and in those few instances, it was to catch my breath.

This film is an instant classic that is safe to show to your kids and grandkids from now until generations to come.

On top of the fantastic animation and lovable characters, the underlying story is an awesome theme to teach to children: it's not how you look or how other people treat you that matters - it's the content of your character and how much you love others. I cannot recommend this film enough - it is one of the best of the year.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than the first one, October 31, 2004

By	Griswel (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shrek 2 (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

I enjoyed Shrek, but a month later I couldn't remember much of it, so I bought the DVD strictly for the kids.

Shrek 2 was a different experience. Outrageously funny throughout, I am probably looking forward to the DVD release more than my kids are, and they saw the film several times.

Shrek 2 has a story that pulls you through the film, and plenty of laugh lines. What makes the film so good, however, is the visual take-offs on other films and things the parents will recognize instantly, including many from, the um, that other family-oriented animated film company.

The addition of Antonio Banderas gives a boost to the film as, and Myers and Murphy are both very funny once again.

Shrek 2 may actually be funnier on DVD than it was in the theatres. There were quite a few scenes where visual references went by so fast I am sure I missed some of the humor. The DVD will let us pause and rewind to make sure we miss nothing.