Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy | PG |
ANIMATED COMEDY
Good thing the fourth Shrek boasts a manic villain, an ogre army and the visual pop of 3-D, because kids probably won't care about the hero's existential crisis. Feeling mired in domestic drudgery, Shrek (again voiced by Myers) makes a deal with fairy-tale scam artist Rumpelstiltskin (the fantastic Walt Dohrn) to be a "real ogre" again. Soon he's in a new Far Far Away, where Rumpel rules, pal Donkey (Murphy) doesn't know him, and wife Fiona (Diaz) is the badass leader of the ogre resistance. The setup reboots Shrek's relationships, amping up the heart and the funny (Antonio Banderas' Puss in Boots and Craig Robinson's ogre chef are hilarious). But when you find yourself preferring the alternate Far Far Away, with its funky new characters and Fiona going all Warrior Princess-and without those cloying, annoying Shrek babies (the Ewoks of the franchise)-it's probably time to let ogres go.
