Thankfully, Shrek 5 is not slated to come out until 2027.  As such, I have nearly two years (a little over a year to be more precise) to watch the other entries in the franchise.  This gives me something to do, but I cannot say I am excited about this prospect.  If I had any enthusiasm, it would have all been done by now.  Nonetheless, my sense of Christian decorum tells me that even if these films are not my favorite, other people like them.  Further, there are worse things a person can watch.  Thus, I apologize ahead of time for any snarky-ness as I discuss Shrek 2 (2004).

Then again, Shrek 2, like others in the series, takes a snarky approach to classic fairytales.  In the previous iteration, Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) had been rescued by the title ogre (voiced by Mike Myers).  She had presumed that he had been the Prince Charming (voiced by Rupert Everett) she had been waiting for, but it turns out great when it is revealed that she, too, is an ogre.  Thus, Princess Fiona and Shrek get married and after their honeymoon, retire to his home in the swamp.  However, the real Prince Charming, as we see in the beginning, had been on his way to save Princess Fiona, arriving late.  As for Princess Fiona and Shrek, their hopes of a peaceful first few days of marriage are interrupted first by Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy), who does not pick up on the cues that the couple wants to be alone.  Next come the heralds of the Kingdom Far Far Away, the place of Princess Fiona’s birth.  She has been summoned by her parents, King Harold (voiced by John Cleese) and Queen Lillian (voiced by Julie Andrews), to return home to celebrate her wedding.  If you had asked me before seeing this movie, I would have told you this happened in the previous film, but I digress.  Shrek tries to be adamant that he will not go, predicting nothing but trouble.  Princess Fiona is equally adamant that they go, and they begin the excruciatingly long trek to the Kingdom Far Far Away, with Donkey asking every five minutes if they are there yet.  The reception they receive upon arrival is exactly as Shrek predicted.  The Hollywood-esque community around the castle, full of other fairytale characters, comes out with pitchforks, though the torches remain mercifully unlit.  King Harold and Queen Lillian are shocked when their daughter appears as an ogre.  It is also a sign that something went wrong with how Princess Fiona was to return to them, namely that Prince Charming missed his chance.  Though Queen Lillian softens a bit given Princess Fiona’s evident love of Shrek, but King Harold and Shrek remain at odds throughout dinner.  The two males sniping at each other ends the meal early and sends Princess Fiona to her chambers.  Once in her room, she is greeted by the Fairy Godmother (voiced by Jennifer Saunders), who angrily informs Princess Fiona that it should have been her son, Prince Charming, that married into the royal family.  Despite the tension, Princess Fiona reiterates her love for Shrek, and the Fairy Godmother goes away.  That night, Shrek finds his wife’s diary from when she was younger, and it is full of references to how much she wanted to be with Prince Charming.  Shrek’s musings are interrupted by King Harold, who has been told by the Fairy Godmother that the ruler of Far Far Away must assist her in righting this supposed wrong for her son or face the consequences.  We will discuss those consequences later.  Hence, King Harold invites Shrek to go hunting in the deep forest with him the next morning.  Unknown to Shrek, King Harold has hired Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) to assassinate the ogre.  King Harold has overestimated the feline’s ability to take down an ogre.  Still, because Shrek spares Puss in Boots life, the cat pledges his loyalty to the ogre.  Also, Shrek realizes King Harold’s betrayal and decides to do something drastic.  Going to the Fairy Godmother’s magic factory, with a hut for a business front, he talks his way into seeing her, hoping she will help him with Princess Fiona.  Instead, he is told that ogres do not get happy endings.  Rather than leave, Shrek and company break into the potion room where they steal the “Happily Ever After” potion.  It is supposed to make the person who drinks it have a life of lasting bliss with the one they love, but it must be sealed by a kiss before midnight the next day.  Donkey and Shrek drink the draught, and in the morning, the former is a steed and the latter a handsome man.  Princess Fiona, too, awakens as her old, beautiful self.  The Fairy Godmother is prepared for this development, trying to pass off Prince Charming as the altered Shrek, even if Princess Fiona does not buy the charade.  To make sure nothing disrupts her plans for her son, the Fairy Godmother forces King Harold to slip a love potion into Princess Fiona’s tea.  Additionally, the Fairy Godmother catches Donkey, Puss in Boots, and Shrek and imprisons them.  It takes the other magical creatures friendly to Shrek to free him and the others, and they help him get into the castle where Prince Charming and Princess Fiona are about to kiss while they dance.  Once Shrek arrives, the Fairy Godmother forces the smooch, but it has no effect because King Harold did not drug his daughter out of sympathy for Princess Fiona.  The Fairy Godmother furiously launches a burst of pink lightning at Princess Fiona and Shrek, but King Harold jumps in front.  The bolt ricochets off his armor, turning the witch into a collection of bubbles and King Harold into a toad.  This is the aforementioned consequence.  Everyone is grateful for their ruler’s selfless act, and after midnight, Princess Fiona and Shrek change back into ogre form.

There are a few fleeting scenes between the reversion and the end credits for Shrek 2, none of which need be enumerated. Actually, little else about this film needs to be described, particularly if you are familiar with the romantic comedy formula.  In Princess Fiona and Shrek, you have two people in love, who are faced with challenges to their relationship, and by overcoming them, realize they are right for each other.  In other words, you have seen this movie.  All the same, I would be remiss if I did not comment on this love story from a Catholic perspective.  However, there are some conflicting messages.  At the core is the notion of whether someone should change for the person to whom they are married.  Shrek feels like he needs to be somebody different in order to keep Princess Fiona, while she contends that she loves the ogre he has always been.  On the surface, an argument can be made for remaining the people who fell in love.  After all, God is unchanging, and His love for us remains the same.  Further, we are called to emulate that kind of love to the best of our ability.  As long as we do that, should it matter who we are?  The difference is that we change because we are equally called to grow in our relationship with God, and that is what should come first in our lives, even before our spouses should we be blessed to have one.  The role of a husband or wife is to help the other get to Heaven.  That is a lasting commitment that may look one way early in a marriage, but change with children, for example.  The enemy never tires of trying to distract us from this goal, and we need to always be ready to lovingly assist our family in overcoming those challenges, doing so not for our sake but theirs.  Oddly enough, it is King Harold that best embodies this idea.  Though he had been set against Princess Fiona and Shrek being together, King Harold has a change of heart and sacrifices his human form for their benefit.  That is true love.

With apologies, I will truly love it when I finally see all of these movies, and I am happy to be done with Shrek 2.  I have no idea when I will get to the others.  Until then, while I do not recommend this film, neither would I object to you seeing it.