Its an age old question that will spark debate between philosophers for years to come; is Shrek 2 better than Shrek 1? The obvious answer is of course not, the original is always better than the sequel. If you say that, it is only because you haven't seen either movie in many years. No one is going to say these two masterpieces are not examples of Hollywood's work, but no sequel is ever superior to predecessor. Unless, of course, we are talking Shrek.
Shrek 2 is non stop laughs right from the opening sequence that details Prince Charming’s epic journey to save Fiona, only to be informed by the big bad wolf in a women's night gown at the end of his journey that she is on her honeymoon. That’s called comedy. The writers were definitely familiar with it in 2001, but they were masters of it in 2004. what really puts Shrek 2 over Shrek 1 is the characters. Just about all of the old ones we fell in love with in the original are back, and we meet Prince Charming, Fairy Godmother, Fiona’s parents and the iconic Puss in Boots. You can add the giant Gingerbread man Mongo to the list of new characters as well. Now looking at the soundtracks, there is no doubt that “I’m a Believer” is the number 1 song in the series, and that is in Shrek 1. The number 2, 3, and 4 songs all belong to Shrek 2 (Holding out for a Hero, Changes, Funkytown, and throw Accidentally in Love in there too). What do you think? Which Shrek is best?
Shrek 2 may have the upper hand in regards to comedy, but it cannot outweigh the effect that Shrek had on the entire animated movie scene. Shrek was one of the first trail-blazing motion pictures that were 3-D animation (along with Toy Story). This revolutionary aspect to the film, along with its arguably equal comedic element to that of its sequel, in my mind gives Shrek the upper hand overall as the superior movie. Interestingly, so does IMDB with a 7.9 to 7.2 in favor of the predecessor, Metacritic with a 84% to 75%; only Rotten Tomatoes gives an equal 88%. Food for thought.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I can agree with you. I think both movies are terrific, but they stand out in different ways. The original Shrek is a nice story with comedic relief littered throughout. Shrek 2 felt more like the writers threw in as many cultural references in it as possible, and the movie was full out comedy. These type of movies are pretty hit or miss, but I think Shrek 2 was a big hit. Both movies are great, but in different ways.
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