Shrek 2

Everybody’s favorite animated ogre (voice by Mike Myers), his donkey sidekick (Eddie Murphy) and true love Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) are back, trying to cope with married life, the disappointment of Fiona’s parents (John Cleese and Julie Andrews) and the conniving of her villainous fairy godmother (Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous). The story is less engrossing than that of the first film, and it sags a bit at the two-thirds point. But that’s a quibble; the characters (especially Murphy’s Donkey) are still charming, the animation really is spectacularly smooth and expressive (credit directors Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon), and the Looney Tunes-style humor and pop-culture in-jokes are as inventive and hilarious as before (thank writers J. David Stem, Joe Stillman and David N. Weiss).