SHREK 2

SHREK 2 may not have the surprise factor of the original 2001 SHREK going for it, but what it loses in novelty it more than makes up for in good-natured charm.

Based on the character introduced in books by the late William Steig, the original SHREK told of a grouchy ogre (voiced by Mike Myers) who was bullied into rescuing a princess (voiced by Cameron Diaz), who was under a strange curse that caused her to be an ogress by night. The twist was that true love and salvation for the maiden meant embracing her ogre side and Shrek, who fell in love despite himself. SHREK 2 picks up from the ogres' happy honeymoon, reminding us that Fiona may now be green, but she's still a princess. Her royal parents know only that their daughter has been saved from an enchanted castle and is now married. They invite her and her new husband to their kingdom of Far Far Away, assuming she has wed Prince Charming (voiced by Rupert Everett). Shrek fears the reaction of his in-laws and doesn't want to go, but he bows to Fiona's insistence and accompanies his bride and tagalong annoying pal Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) to her homeland. The King (voiced by John Cleese) and Queen (voiced by Julie Andrews) are stunned by both Fiona's appearance and the nature of her spouse. The Queen is determined to make the best of it, but the King is apoplectic. Abetted by an imperious Fairy Godmother (voiced by Jennifer Saunders), the King schemes to rid himself of his inappropriate son-in-law and get Fiona looking like a princess again, while Shrek frets that perhaps he's not really giving his beloved the happily ever after she deserves.

Having found a tone that works with the first film, the SHREK 2 filmmakers directors Andrew Adamson (returning from SHREK 1), Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon and screenwriters Adamson (who also penned the story), Joe Stillman (another first-film veteran), J. David Stern and David N. Weiss have loosened up here, so that the pop culture references feel a little more relaxed and thus genuinely hip, while the characters are freer to progress logically and likeably from the point where we last saw them. The creative team trust the audience to get how everything works, so they can spend less time on set-up and more on playing with the world they've created.

And what a world it is, with the CGI animation perhaps even more vividly dimensional that last time. A particularly delightful innovation this time out is Puss 'n' Boots, a foe-turned-friend character voiced by Antonio Banderas with Zorro-like panache (he and Murphy supply a funny and musically credible duet on "Livin' La Vida Loca"), while Saunders is wickedly wily. Myers, Diaz and Murphy all reprise their characters with fidelity to the original performances.

SHREK 2 is visually beguiling and narratively endearing it's a fun, amusingly-realized world and we enjoy hanging out with the inhabitants.