Shrek 2 (2004)
★★★ — Shrek 2 (2004)
Look, I'll be straight with you: Shrek 2 is not a great film. It's a good one, maybe a very good one on its best days, but it's not the kind of thing that stays with you after the credits roll. What it is, though, is funny, slick, and almost impossible to dislike, and on a rainy afternoon with a kid beside you losing their mind at a talking cat, that counts for a lot.
The thing that made Shrek feel genuinely fresh was that it had an edge to its irreverence, a scruffiness underneath the fairy tale parody. The sequel smooths all that away and gives you something glossier, louder, and considerably more expensive-looking. That's not entirely a criticism. Early-2000s DreamWorks had a very particular energy, this breathless, winking, pop-culture-saturated confidence, and if you're going to do that style, this is probably the peak of it. The jokes come thick and fast. Some are brilliant. Some thud on the floor. But the ratio is decent enough that you're rarely sitting there waiting for the next laugh.
The cast deserves a mention because it really is remarkable. The voice work crackles with comic timing throughout, and the addition of Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots is the single best creative decision the filmmakers made. Puss could have been a throwaway gag and instead he walks off with the whole film under his arm. The "Accidentally in Love" montage early on is unashamed rom-com gold, the kind of sequence that earns its silliness because it commits to it completely.
But here's where I have to be honest. Strip away the star power, the visual flair, and the reliable charm of the gags, and the story underneath is pretty threadbare. Meet the in-laws, cause a scene at dinner, go on a quest, save the kingdom, earn some respect. There's nothing wrong with any of that, exactly, it just isn't surprising. You know where every beat is going well before it arrives, and the film doesn't particularly try to disguise that. It's content to be what it is: a well-oiled entertainment machine doing exactly what's expected of it, and doing it competently.
Compared to something like Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005), which has genuine strangeness and soul to it, Shrek 2 feels like it's playing it very safe beneath the noise. And compared to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), its other big comedy companion from that era, the pop culture humour here already shows its age in places, a few of the references landing with a slightly hollow clunk now rather than a proper laugh.
Still, I can't hate it. I genuinely can't. My kid laughed, and laughed hard, and there's real craft in the timing throughout, even when the material is thin. It's well-made, well-paced, and it knows exactly what it's trying to do. Above-average kids' animation, solidly executed. Three stars.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2004 | Watched: 2025-07-23
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Peacock Premium · Peacock Premium Plus
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Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Andrew Adamson: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) · Shrek (2001)
More with Mike Myers: Shrek (2001)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
