Shrek 2

USA Today Claudia Puig

Just as funny, sweet and engaging as the first film starring the big galoot.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Sure, the animation work is great, but it's the actors and their subtle, complex vocal performances that make us care about these fairy-tale characters. Shrek 2 is all about fantasy, but its characters are rousingly, affectingly real -- not to mention real, real funny.

Portland Oregonian Karen Karbo

Medal prediction: The green guy is golden.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Has a rowdy, jumpin'-jive vivacity. It's not quite as emotionally rounded as ''Shrek'' was... but it's got heart and delirium in equal doses, as well as a firecracker rhythm all its own.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Lightning strikes twice, but not as brilliantly as before, in Shrek 2. The welcome sequel to the monster 2001 Oscar winner about an ogre's unlikely romance with a beautiful princess successfully recycles many of the qualities that made the first one an instant animated classic and worldwide smash.

Slate David Edelstein

I wasn't prepared for the slap-happy brilliance of Shrek 2, which should ideally be seen twice--once with kids, once savored at something like a midnight show.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

As it turns out, Shrek 2 is one of the funniest movies I've seen in years. But I'm far from sure that it's a kids' movie anymore, even though, like its predecessor, it's a thoroughly sugared-up reading of the book, by veteran New Yorker cartoonist William Steig, on which both films are based.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Like the first movie this is unassailable family entertainment, with a gentle fairy tale for kids and a raft of mildly satirical pop-culture references for parents.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

There's an old-Hollywood feel to the movie's solid showmanship and unabashed sophistication. These days it's feature-length 'toons, sporting the newest-fangled technology, that take kids and adults alike back to the movies' good old days.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

The Shrek franchise is alive and well -- Model 2 is zippier, sleeker, with ever-improving graphics, vast commercial potential and the same sly ability to reach out and hook the whole family.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Shrek 2 delivers more fun than there is slime in a green ogre's swamp. Much of that is thanks to Antonio ­Banderas, who runs away with Shrek 2 on little cat feet.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

It has the charm, irony and saucy wit of the original, plus two supporting characters -- a suave, egocentric feline and a cheerfully conniving fairy godmother -- who are funnier than anyone in "Shrek."

New York Post Lou Lumenick

So gorgeously animated and so thoroughly entertaining for all ages that only an ogre would complain it's not quite as fresh as the original.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Shrek 2 is a dream, a sequel as exhilarating and riotously funny as 2001's top-grossing original.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Shrek 2 may be computer-generated, but its innate heart and glorious sense of mischief make it one of the best and most humane movies of the summer.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Reunites one of the best voice casts ever for an animated film to create a shrewd entertainment that again successfully aims its jokes at various age groups.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Its cleverness and its good heart enable it to overcome a slow start, which is how all good fairy tales end.

Time Richard Schickel

This wonderfully animated movie is a little more softly pitched than its predecessor, but it still has plenty of rollicking spin on the ball.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

The picture is clever and vivacious -- at times, like the first "Shrek," it seems a bit taken with its own precociousness. But its moments of sheer inventiveness can still catch you off-guard, and some of them are wittily poetic.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

This Shrek is both funnier and warmer than its predecessor; it's better-looking, too, no longer as clunky and junky as video-game graphics.

Empire Angie Errigo

Remains hilarious throughout.

Premiere Peter Debruge

The humor is so satisfying in its moment-to-moment pleasures that it's almost unsportsmanlike to criticize the bigger picture.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

At its best, this "Shrek" sequel draws up a brilliant new blueprint for all-ages animation, blending fairy-tale whimsy with edgy social satire. Too bad it ends with worn-out homilies far less imaginative than the story as a whole.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

With its appealing blend of animated comedy, romance, and adventure, Shrek 2 follows the formula of its predecessor while maintaining enough originality not to come across as a direct copy.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

What works best in Shrek 2 are the smaller roles, the pile-driving pop-culture jokes, and the moments of weird, early-Mad-magazine comic invention.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

The real humor comes, once again from Murphy, whose Donkey is so genuinely funny and clever that he very nearly steals the film. Except that it's stolen by Banderas as a rogue Puss In Boots.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Bright, lively and entertaining, but it's no "Shrek." Maybe it's too much to expect lightning to strike twice.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

Shrek is something of a poignant hero here and not terribly ogre-like; Myers obviously wasn't being paid per giggle generated. Diaz's Fiona feels increasingly fleshed out, while the "annoying talking animals" provide most of the laughs.

TV Guide Angel Cohn

Awash in pop-culture jokes that will fly over the heads of tots and delight their parents, this vividly colored romp is a worthy sequel to the 1991 Oscar winner.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Certainly Shrek 2 offers rambunctious fun, but there is also something dishonest about its blending of mockery and sentimentality. It lacks both the courage to be truly ugly and the heart to be genuinely beautiful.

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

Serves up heaping helpings of everything fans loved about the first.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Unsurprisingly, your enjoyment of Shrek 2 will likely be predicated on your enjoyment of Shrek 1.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Move over donkey, it's Banderas' time to shine.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

The lovable characters remain, but they never do much of interest in a sequel that's safely above average but superfluous.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

The filmmakers betray the essentially childlike appeal of Shrek by piling up all these too-hip Hollywood references aimed at adults. It's not just kids who will feel cheated.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Some of the buckshot hits its target: Shrek's second sidekick, assassin-turned-comrade Puss in Boots, is voiced by Antonio Banderas as an outrageously mock-dramatic Spaniard with most of the pig-pile screenplay's best toss-offs.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A sequel was called for, and so a sequel has arrived -- but it's a slightly zombie-like version, with the size, look and shape of the original movie, but without its lightness or spirit, its soul.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

There's no innocence left in Shrek 2. The helter-skelter story and throwaway gags emerge from a sensibility that confuses gossipy knowingness and jadedness with wit.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

One wishes the same wit and energy had gone into the story. That's Shrek 2 in a nutshell -- very pretty to look at, very hard to care for.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

The soundtrack deserves mention, mostly because its relatively high quality makes the film itself that much more irritating.