DVD
Upcoming Release Calendar
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Recent DVD/Video Releases
65
Adoration
42
Aliens in the Attic
56
American Violet
44
Answer Man, The
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil![]()
54
Bruno
55
Casi Divas
63
Cheri
83
Drag Me to Hell![]()
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
76
Every Little Step
70
Fados
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
74
Humpday
32
I Love You, Beth Cooper
50
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
81
Il Divo![]()
54
Is Anybody There?
32
Land of the Lost
74
Lemon Tree
40
Limits of Control, The
43
Love 'N Dancing
63
Medicine for Melancholy
34
My Life in Ruins
51
My Sister's Keeper
48
Not Forgotten
76
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!
50
Nothing Like the Holidays
26
Objective, The
42
Orphan
78
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
48
Proposal, The
39
Spread
83
Star Trek![]()
55
Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The
72
Thirst
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
66
Unmistaken Child
88
Up![]()
45
Whatever Works
34
Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Shrek 2
EMAILPRINTDreamWorks Distribution LLC

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 40 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 130 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Animation | Comedy | Family/Kids | Fantasy
Written by:
J. David Stem
Joe Stillman
David N. Weiss
William Steig (characters)
Directed by:
Andrew Adamson
Kelly Asbury
Conrad Vernon
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 19, 2004
DVD: November 5, 2004
Running Time: 93 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG for some crude humor, a brief substance reference and some suggestive content
Starring Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese, Julie Andrews, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders
The fairy tale continues as everyone's favorite ogre faces his greatest challenge of all -- the inlaws! (DreamWorks)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Shrek Shrek the Third
GAMES: Shrek 2 (PS2)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
USA Today Claudia Puig
Just as funny, sweet and engaging as the first film starring the big galoot.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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."
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Shrek 2 is a dream, a sequel as exhilarating and riotously funny as 2001's top-grossing original.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Premiere Peter Debruge
The humor is so satisfying in its moment-to-moment pleasures that it's almost unsportsmanlike to criticize the bigger picture.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Rick Kisonak
Serves up heaping helpings of everything fans loved about the first.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Unsurprisingly, your enjoyment of Shrek 2 will likely be predicated on your enjoyment of Shrek 1.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
The soundtrack deserves mention, mostly because its relatively high quality makes the film itself that much more irritating.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 130 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Deanna H gave it a6:
i like this movie it had its funny parts, like when puss in boots came. But it wasn't the best movie ever.
Ben gave it a9:
Probably my favourite movie. I liked it better than the first Shrek. Script and images more meaningful to an older audience than the previous film. Still a lot of fun for all the family.
Marissa gave it a9:
Simply wonderful! A few bad jokes and things like that, but all movies seem to have one or two of them in there.
Sam gave it a10:
Funny? Yes. Clever? Absolutley. Heartwarming? Could it be any other way? Shrek returns with the original brilliance that highlighted the original.
Riren gave it a6:
Blatantly sentimental where the original was clever, Shrek 2 is the sort of movie the original would have made fun of. The charm wears off quickly. There are some outrageously funny moments, but its more miss than hit, going for easy parody and satirical cliches.
[Anonymous] gave it a3:
Just brutal. Bad jokes and pathetic writing. Complete scenes thrown in just to try to break up the monotony of a truly terrible story. I literally was cringing during the last scene and the bonus American Idol schtick. The only reason it gets a 3 is the animation is amazing.
Lily O. gave it a9:
Though this film is not as ood as it's predecessor Shrek 2 is nearly there.
