After watching both Shrek and Shrek 2, I decided to make a comparison between the two, beginning with the original Shrek, which is my personal favorite because… How could you dislike the original?
Shrek in this film to my personal opinion is way funnier than he is in Shrek 2, with his fast-speaking sidekick Donkey, who seems to always have a hilarious kick to him but also has a serious side where him and Shrek often clash creating comical scenes.
One such scene is where Donkey asks if he can stay with Shrek after they escape the dragon. Shrek’s reluctance to engage with the outside fairytale world is what creates the comical sense in the story.
I feel Shrek was viewed as grumpy but truly on the inside was a lover as he expressed for Fiona throughout the story. Also Shrek’s major opposition to Lord Farquaad, who strips him of his land is a key component to the story, is one of the reasons I favor the first Shrek to the second. Additionally, Lord Farquaad’s distinct look with the big head and little body is funny because how can someone so little want to have a problem with someone like Shrek?
Shrek 2 seems to me to be more of a romance with Shrek and Fiona going to meet her parents for approval, but they are unaware that they will be displeased due to Shrek being an Ogre. In this sense this type of plot was personally not my type of preference, as Shrek 1 was more of a comedy.
Though in this movie we see Shrek expressing the love that he kept hidden in the first movie, which gave me a deeper understanding of his character, as I believe he is truly misunderstood because he didn’t ask to be an ogre; he just was created as one. This is what Shrek and Fiona come to realize after defeating the fairy god mother and stealing the happily ever after potion and not drinking it and returning to the swamp after finding true love as both ogres.
In conclusion, I favor Shrek over Shrek 2 because of the more humorous plot and characters like Lord Farquaad. Shrek appears to be searching for love in Shrek 2, which I don’t find as a bad movie.
I personally just overall think the original is the better movie.
Image courtesy of Alex Westbrook ’27.
