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May 20, 2004 SHREK 2 (with a Drag Queen!!)
I should preface the movie review by saying that I *knew* I was in for some off-color humor. Nickelodeon offered a preview of the first five minutes of the movie on Tuesday night and we watched it, chuckling at the fart in the jacuzzi scene. At five and six, the kids are tickled to death by potty humor and although I get a little weary of hearing "POOP...bwahahahaha", I can handle a little bit of it in a movie when it's actually funny. The movie begins with Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon. Upon returning to the swamp, they discover that they have been summoned by Fiona's parents to the land of "Far, Far Away" in order to receive a royal blessing on their marriage. Shrek is reluctant to go (since her parents are people, not ogres) but Fiona is his wife now and they pack up the carriage. At this point, I was cracking up at the marital jokes and Shrek being such a man about going to meet the parents. They arrive in Far, Far Away with Donkey in tow. The scenes of the town are hilarious as it is modeled after Hollywood and the gates to the various kingdoms read "Cinderella", "Snow White" etc., as if they are all celebrities. Clever stuff, though wrought with blatant product endorsements like Burger King and Starbucks. By the time the King has arranged for the marriage to be trickily annulled, Shrek is visiting the local bar where (and this is where, for me...it gets a little ugly) the bartender is a man in drag. Clearly, the character has a 5 o' clock shadow, a deep voice, lipstick and a wig. I'm not sure where this kind of humor fits into a kids movie, but it seems to go over their heads so I'm rolling with the punches and hoping he (she?) doesn't reappear. He does, and even makes comments in his gravelly about how handsome Prince Charming is, what with his sculpted cheekbones and all. Yikes. More hilarity ensues and admittedly, I laugh out loud at quite a lot of it. Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) is priceless. Prince Charming (voiced by Rupert Everett) is over the top on ego and plays mama's boy to the Fairy Godmother who is a terrific villainess for Shrek to contend with. In all, it's very, very funny. As much as I was uncomfortable with Fred the glamour gal barkeep, I was stunned when the fairy tale characters came to rescue Shrek from a bad situation. Pinocchio is being lowered into a dungeon and realizes he can't reach Shrek to free him from his shackles. Shrek suggests that he tell a lie so that his nose will grow. Pinocchio can't think of what to say so I think it was the Gingerbread Man who offers that he should say he's wearing women's panties. He does, and of course, the nose doesn't grow. They take it a step further when the Gingerbread Man peeks into the puppets pants and reveals, "It's a thong!" and even we get a glimpse of the red t-strap. Niiice. (NOT!) Why on earth does a movie that contains multiple cross dressing references only warrant a PG rating? Is anyone OK with explaining boys (wooden or not) wearing a woman's red thong to their children? I was only prepared for farts, ear wax and some Ogre kisses! It's sad to me that in some attempt to be cutting edge, Dreamworks had to include these jokes. Sexuality, hetero, homo and surely not transgendero just isn't what I want to discuss when walking out of the movies with a kid I still have to hold hands with when we cross the street. Poor taste all around and it did nothing but detract from an otherwise hilarious movie. For the record, my son loved, loved, loved it (the gweates movie evuh!!!) and hasn't mentioned the panties or the drag queen, so I suspect the jokes indeed cruised right over his head (thank God!). I would only recommend this one if your kids are young enough to be oblivious or old enough to take it in stride. Or, of course, if you're all grown up and just want to get down with some Ogre luvvins.
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