Once upon a time, Dreamworks made a film called Shrek, which provided a modern spin on fairytales, and made a few pokes at the Disney empire on the way. But the years passed, and Shrek left both the cinemas and indeed the front of every child-oriented food product in the kingdom. A darkness fell over the marketing department, and people seemed unaccountably obsessed by fish. The time was ripe for a sequel.
Shrek 2 is, in many ways, more of the same. If anything, it has less of a story than the original, but just as many of the gags and celebrity voice overs. Being british, I should point out the the ugly stepsister was voiced by Jonathan Ross and Joan Rivers was voiced by Kate Thornten. I'm not really sure why. I'm not really sure it worked.
The film is at its best when it attacks Disney, and image obsessed lifestyle. Unfortunately, things move slowly, there are too many characters and most of them are far less developed and far less sympathetic than in the original. Certainly I laughed my way through it, and didn't regret going, but it didn't leave me gasping for more (although, I will certainly be going to see the inevitable Shrek 3
So that's going to be three magic potions out of a possible five