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Shrek is having a midlife crisis worthy of George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life."
True, there's no Uncle Billy, missing money or malevolent Mr. Potter in the picture but there is the stultifying crush of routine and, waiting in the wings, the devilish deal maker Rumpelstiltskin.
Shrek and his wife, Fiona, are living with their year-old triplets and their world is a repetitive loop of early mornings, stinky diaper changes, frenzied play dates, outhouse repairs and dinners with friends and family who recite the same phrases or stories at the same time every single day.
"I used to be an ogre. Now I'm just a jolly green joke," the domesticated and downhearted Shrek says, longing for the days when the villagers feared him and when his time was his own. What parent cannot identify with that?
- Starring: Voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Walter Dohrn.
- Rating: PG for mild action, some rude humor and brief language.
- Web site: 'Shrek Forever After'
When Shrek muses, "Sometimes, I wish I had just one day to feel like a real ogre again," the conniving Rumpelstiltskin offers to make that happen. Shrek unwittingly is cast into a world where he's not married to Fiona, and Donkey and Puss in Boots have never seen him, either.
The clock is ticking for Shrek to regain the life that once left him weary and angry but he now pines for.
"Shrek Forever After" returns the principal voices of Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as Fiona, Eddie Murphy as Donkey and Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots and adds Walter Dohrn, also the head of story, as Rumpelstiltskin.
This is the first "Shrek" in 3-D and, apparently, the last movie in the series although Puss in Boots is being spun off for a prequel. The 3-D adds depth and allows for a couple of nifty tricks but it doesn't seem as essential as in "Up" or "Coraline" so I wouldn't automatically pay the extra couple of bucks if I were taking a gang of children.
As always, the story works best when it features the originals -- Shrek and Donkey, Shrek and Puss in Boots or Shrek and Fiona -- with Rumpelstiltskin providing one of the most annoying guises and grating voices on screen today. Yes, he's the villain but it's the villain who makes or breaks a movie.
Rumpel is surrounded by a gaggle of party or patrol witches who are clones of the Wicked Witch of the West with the voices of such famous women as Meredith Vieira, Kathy Griffin and Mary Kay Place.
"Shrek Forever After" may play better to parents, who can relate to its "What if ..." story, than children. Youngsters will delight, as always, in Donkey's songs, rapid patter and impulsiveness while Puss in Boots has been domesticated even more than Shrek.
I liked the bookends of the movie more than the meaty middle although it allows Fiona to take another giant leap from the Cinderellas and Sleeping Beautys of the fairy-tale world.
While "Shrek Forever After" cannot match the magic of the first two and it borrows liberally from "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Wizard of Oz," it brings the franchise to a fitting, family-friendly close. And we'll always have Puss in Boots, at least come fall 2011.
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