Caught Shrek 2 last night, after organising an outing among my church Youth Council the night before. For the record, I loved the original movie, so I was really looking forward to this. I even went to the website and played the mini-adventure game.

So you can imagine what a disappointment it was to discover that the sequel was hardly the heart-warming epic its predecessor was. While Shrek 1 was original in its delivery, witty from beginning to end and lightly sprinkled with a good dose of Disney bashing, Shrek 2 seems like a poor carbon copy of that winning formula.

The movie opens with Shrek and Fiona (voiced by Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz) on their honeymoon, after the happy ending of the first movie. Within this 15 minute sequence alone, we are treated to a couple of spoofs including Ashton Kutcher’s Just Married, The Little Mermaid and The Lord of the Rings.

The essence of the story was just missing. The chemistry between the characters was lost and even Donkey seemed a little subdued. If that wasn’t bad enough, the rest of the movie turns out to be one messy joke (often in the vein of the predecessor) after another, proving beyond all doubt that the whole is less than the sum of its parts. One reviewer put it best, “If there wasn’t a Shrek 1, this would have been a better movie.”

It gets an 8 out of 10, but as far as I’m concerned it already couldn’t get any further from the original.

Troy on the other hand… was superbly magnificent…

The war epic starring Brad Pitt and Eric Bana is a masterpiece I’ve been looking forward to for months. I’ve always considered Pitt as one of the top actors of the present era and I’m glad he hasn’t disappointed. Eric Bana has been a hot fave of mine ever since his run as The Hulk and he arguably places himself among the top echelons of stardom with this role.

Troy recounts the Trojan War, but choses to focus more on the rivalry between the champion of the united Greek military, Achilles (Pitt) and the warrior prince of Troy, Hector (Bana) rather than the Trojan Horse incident. The result is a gripping film that brings out the best and worst of men.

Contrary to my original belief, the Greeks in director Wolfgang Petersen’s epic are the “bad guys”, invaders led by the megalomaniacal tyrant Agamemnon (played to perfection by X-Men 2’s Brian Cox). Achilles himself came off as being a self-centred egomaniac, rather than the hero of the Trojan War that history has made him out to be. In contrast, Troy is seen as the stronghold of the honourable, the last bastion of safety left untouched by the Greeks. Hector is portrayed as a loyal son, a charismatic general and a loving father, making his impending death (as anyone who has read Homer’s Iliad or any of the abridged, translated versions would know) all the more depressing.

I gave Troy a 9 out of 10. I dropped a point for subjecting me to reminders of Legolas.

Personal mark out moments:

• Seeing Sean Bean on screen again. I loved his take on Boromir on LOTR and I believe he played Odysseus rather well, despite the limited screentime.
• Seeing Peter O’Toole cast an imposing figure despite his age as King Priam of Troy. Ever since he was presented with an honorary Oscar last year, he has played German WWII President von Hindenburg and now King Priam, both great tragic leaders.
• Seeing Tyler Mane as the magnificent Ajax and Nathan Jones as the rather laughable Boagrius. There’s nothing like seeing pro wrestlers get their asses whooped on the big screen.

Check out this short film. It’s downright amazing. The link is here. Click on Menu (at the bottom left corner) and then Film.