"Shrek 2"

Their disapproval is blatant and hurtful: As Shrek and Fiona approach the parental castle, the king suggests to his wife they go inside, turn off the lights and pretend they're not at home. We learn that, unbeknownst to his wife, the king had made a deal with the local, and very power-hungry, fairy godmother (Jennifer Saunders, of "Absolutely Fabulous"): Her son, the fussy, preening Prince Charming (played with hilarious, bubbleheaded insouciance by Rupert Everett), was supposed to be the one to rescue Fiona from the spell that made her an ogre in the first place -- the two of them would then be joined in marriage. Shrek's appearance on the scene messed up the devious duo's meticulously laid plan, and they scheme to find a way to remove him from the picture.

Meanwhile, though, unsettled by the chilly reception they've gotten from the king and queen, Fiona and Shrek bicker and spar. Fiona, even though she's a grown-up, and even though she knows she's chosen the right guy for her, can't help wanting their approval. Shrek fears, for the first time, that he really doesn't measure up. Fiona, frustrated and confused by her own feelings, seizes upon his stubbornness and crankiness. The two hurl accusations at each other: "I made changes for you, Shrek," Fiona says bitterly at one point. "Think about that."

This is a peculiarly stinging type of fairy-tale discord, and while it may be geared toward adults, I don't think it's beyond children to understand its essential nature: While "Shrek 2" doesn't rub kids' noses in their worst fears the way many of the classic Disney pictures do ("Bambi" is Exhibit A), it doesn't talk down to them, either. "Shrek 2" was directed by Andrew Adamson (also one of the directors of "Shrek"), Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. Its script is by Adamson, Joe Stillman, J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, and I only wish that there were more live-action pictures written with as much careful shaping. Shrek leaves the castle on an adventure that, he hopes, will help Fiona realize she made the right choice -- he thinks she has doubts about having married him, not recognizing that her love for him is the one thing she's certain of. But "Shrek 2" doesn't feel heavy-handed or lesson-logged: If anything, it has a lighter touch than its predecessor, even though its themes are more complicated.

The picture is clever and vivacious -- at times, like the first "Shrek," it seems a bit taken with its own precociousness. But its moments of sheer inventiveness can still catch you off-guard, and some of them are wittily poetic. The streets of Far Far Away are lined with Beverly Hills-style mansions (the names of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are wrought right into their curly iron gates) and swanky stores like the bow-and-arrow supply joint Versarchery (its sign even uses the Versace typeface). As Fiona gazes out a window, unhappily, we see the kingdom's named spelled out on the hills behind her, just like the Hollywood sign. "Happiness is just a teardrop away!" reads the business card that the meddlesome fairy godmother gives to Fiona, after trying to force her into an extreme makeover she doesn't want in the least. "Shrek 2" doesn't set itself up as a sanctimonious indictment of Hollywood shallowness, but it shows a limited amount of patience with Hollywood's preoccupation with looks, style and status. They're hollow things to be pricked, like balloons, but the movie doesn't make the mistake of building dopey homilies around them.

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