Futurama: Shrek

Shrek 2 is one of the best films I've seen recently, and I'll attempt to review it without giving too much away. The first Shrek was a fine film, but I don't think it deserved the Oscar for a number of reasons. It was not what I'd call a classic.. DreamWorks used its CG to animate things out of their range, for one thing. Do you know why PIXAR never showed humans in great detail until now[The Incredibles] and even now its humans are highly stylized? It's because they knew they couldn't animate humans well enough for it to look good. DreamWorks ignored their limited capabilities and produced some odd, puppetlike people. As funny as Robin Hood is and as pretty as Fiona is, they didn't look natural. Shrek 2 improved upon this.. There isn't a character in the movie who looks awkward or unnatural[even the drones in Fairy Godmother's factory look expressive, despite their costumes. Is it me or is Godmother rather like Mom, with an overgrown Ignar in Charming?]. In the first movie, there was too much of a reliance, I think, on pop music. The soundtrack of Shrek 2 is vastly improved, the only really well known tracks being Funkytown and Livin' La Vida Loca.. And I LIKED Funkytown, so I have only one complaint for the soundtrack in that Loca is possibly even worse a choice than All Star to put in such a great movie. The orchestral tracks, as in Shrek, are very good.. Though somewhat less stylized[I can't remember the name of the music, but the waltzing violin track they use for the DVD menu of the first movie was more Fairy-Tale sounding, the new music goes more for general drama].
The characters are all hilarious, old and new. Not one character except possibly Fiona's mother goes through the movie without making you laugh at least once. Fiona's parents are well thought out and by the end very likeable[though two well placed lines of dialogue and the similarity to a scene in Oh Brother Where Art Thou near the end gives away Fiona's father's real identity before you actually see it.. Not necessarily a bad thing, but...]. Fairy Godmother is beautifully expressive and very funny. If you've ever seen Jennifer Saunders in real life, the animation they used really brings out her speaking voice and makes her instantly recognizable. Rupert Everett is delightfully metrosexual as Charming, and Puss is adorable though fickle and perfectly pulled off by Antonio Banderas.
The gags in this film are hit or miss wwith a 99.9% kill rate. Some are even delightfully subtle, so much though that you'll blink and miss them.. The one that absolutely killed me was when a "Farbucks Coffee" is destroyed, its customers run screaming across the street to.. Well, you'll have to see it. OH and Faze Shift... Muffin Man shows up too!
Be sure to stay though the beginning of the credits, especially if you miss a certain character who was prominent in the first movie but barely appears in this one.. along with six[if I remember properly] little surprises. But, whatever you do, don't miss this movie! I wouldn't be surprised at all if it won the Oscar next year, though I'm sure he Incredibles will give it a run for its money. Also, Shark Tale[formerly "Sharkslayer"] looks... well.. crappy. But the visuals in the preview are even prettier than Shrek's!