Go see Shrek 2 when it is released on May 19 – it is stunning.
I love movies and i often see them opening night. When given the opportunity, i love going to movie premiers. Of course, the only movie premiers that i’m ever invited to are the ones with computer graphics in them. This doesn’t bother me because i love an audience full of geeks and/or animators. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the geek premier of Shrek 2. I admit, i was a little worried because a sequel is often horrifying. But, omg, i was totally impressed.
Not only is the storyline better than the last round (deeper connections to fairie tales, more nuanced relationships, greater opportunity for multiple textual readings), but the graphics just took another leap forward. I’ve never seen hair look so good, the lighting in particular; it’s starting to look actually porous. Speaking of porous, the skin, oh the skin. It’s been nine years since the baby in Toy Story scared us all into thinking that CG and humans were not meant to go together. PDI really took that baton and the increased improvement in skin makes all the difference. The subtle details really come through. Take pupil dilation – there’s so much information in pupil dilation.
This is not to say that it’s perfect – there are definitely flaws and room for improvement. But i’m definitely impressed. Of course, i will never forget what Ed Catmull told me when i was starting to work in computer graphics, roughly: “The CG may be great, but without a good storyline, the CG doesn’t matter.” In Shrek 2, the graphics just fade into the background.
Anyhow, definitely go see it opening weekend. (Remember: opening weekend box office receipts are often what determines the duration of the movie and they’re a really important indicator of support to the creators.)