Sequels are a tricky business, as any studio head can tell you. Success depends upon a precarious balance of seemingly opposing ideas: a comforting similarity to the original film, while being different enough to renew interest. It's a Hobson's Choice and a Match-22 all in one. Sequels must avoid the negative been-there, done-that quality, while going-exactly-there and doing-exactly-that. If well executed, a sequel can outstrip its predecessor in quality and at the box office (The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II). Done poorly, however...well, ask the makers of The Matrix about how quickly fortunes can turn.

It should be considered a minor miracle, therefore, that SHREK 2 more than lives up to the promise and the brilliance of its predecessor. Thematically, it continues to mine the rich metaphors surrounding appearances and self-identity, while moving to a whole new arena for those concerns: namely, pleasing one's parents while remaining true to oneself. As a newlywed, Shrek (Mike Myers) has to deal with that special breed of parents known as in-laws -- the King and Queen of Far, Far Away, mother and father of his beloved Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz). Turns out that they're not aware of her recent ogrification, and were expecting a more suitably charming son-in-law.

That would be Prince Charming, brought to vainglorious life by Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding). Everett is just one of the many dazzling voice talents joining returning Shrek vets Myers, Diaz and Eddie Murphy as Donkey. The sequel owes much of its comic charm to its superb voice cast, a uniformly dynamic ensemble that gives the animators much to play with. Jennifer Saunders zestily inhabits a saucy fairy godmother, while John Cleese and Julie Andrews make a perfect oddball match as the King and Queen. The most exceptional new addition is the sword-carrying bounty hunter Puss 'N' Boots, hilariously inhabited by Antonio Banderas. Sending up his own Zorro persona, Banderas steals every single scene he is in; if the Oscars ever get their act together enough to recognize voice work, Banderas would and should be first in line for recognition.

The trio of directors for SHREK 2, Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon, are shrewd enough to remember the secret of the first Shrek's success: appeal to kids, but aim the humor at their parents. Shrek and SHREK 2 remain unique in American film animation not for their superb graphic rendering, but for their surprisingly sophisticated wit and savvy skewering of popular culture's false gods. In the first Shrek adventure, we traveled to Farquaad's castle, which bore a thinly veiled similarity to a certain movie competitor's theme park in Orlando. This time out, the Land of Far, Far Away is decked out as a medieval Hollywood; the entrance to the city will be eerily familiar to anyone who has ever visited the Paramount Studios lot (or seen their logo), and fantastical versions of Rodeo Drive and Sunset Boulevard (littered with Starbucks, 'natch) are sublime sight gags. Not content with satirizing just the geography, SHREK 2 also fondly sends up Hollywood's classics -- Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon features homages to From Here To Eternity and Lord of the Rings, while other sequences parody Mission: Impossible, Flashdance, King Kong, and the reality series Cops. (Don't blink or you'll miss it, but the visual reference to The Fabulous Baker Boys is worth the price of admission alone.) By skewering Hollywood even as it honors it, the creators have infused a postmodern sensibility into their central idea, making SHREK 2 a film about the transparency of fantasies, even the one it's telling. This interlocking understanding of story, theme and metaphor -- what better place to discuss the vanity of appearance than in La La Land? -- makes the Shrek franchise charming, entertaining, and irreplaceable.

This is not to say that there's not a lot for kids of all ages to enjoy in this comedy of domestic strife. Magic potions -- a staple of cartoon drama all the way back to the grandmother of the genre, Snow White -- figure strongly in the plot of SHREK 2, but by the final reel it is clear that there is no magic cure, or easy answers, for the difficult struggles that life unexpectedly presents. Shrek is a new-generation Everyman, but one that stands in direct counterpoint to the fairy tales he is surrounded by; when the clock strikes midnight here, Cinderella is still revealed...but running to hide in shame is so old-school Grim(m). Better to stand in honesty and truth, and let the chips fall where they may. SHREK 2 is more than a worthy successor to the original, and more than just a modern-day fairy tale. It is a story for our times and for our lives, with laughter and lessons in equal measure. Sequels are a tricky business, but when done right -- and this one most certainly is -- they can be magnificent.

-- Gabriel Shanks

Read Jill's review of SHREK 2

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