Once upon a time, again. Shrek 2 follows where the first movie left off. Princess Fiona (Diaz), now a full-time ogre, and Shrek (Myers) are married and just back from their honeymoon when they are forced to leave the swamp to seek the nuptial blessing of Fiona's parents, the King and Queen of Far Far Away (John Cleese and Julie Andrews). The regal in-laws are not amused. If you incarcerate your daughter in a tower at great expense, you expect her to return in triumph with Prince Charming. You don't expect her to get hitched to an ogre, and then turn into one permanently and start being followed by a talking donkey (Murphy).

But twists and turns are plentiful here; Puss in Boots (Banderas) is hired to 'make it look like an accident' while Prince Charming (Rupert Everett with a fantastic entrance) and Fiona's Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) are plotting plots of their own. All this adds up to a great film, a great tale (and I'm not talking about Puss...sorry couldn't resist), that's full of belly-laughs, Fairy-tale in-jokes and send-ups. It's lots of fun.