Shrek Forever After ended, quite to my surprize, on an up note.

Thanks to the fresh take on a classic plot twist, It's a Wonderful Life world in which Shrek has never been born.

Although this film will never be the blockbuster the first Shrek was, it holds its own against the others, so take the kids and have some fun -- this may be the last one.

Shrek's perfect happy-ever-after life has turned into a repetative routine, so he wishes things could be like they used to be, and thanks to a "metaphysical paradox" (and a contract with Rumplestilskin) he can.

Lifting its script from It's a Wonderful Life, it's a predictable ". . . what if," with the same characters, same humor, same old -- yawn!

Still, it has beautiful animation and great voice characterization.

The movie Shrek Forever After is the fourth and maybe last episode of the spoofy animated fairy tale based on the popular children's book.

This time around, the star seems to be in a mid-life crisis.

The irritation of marriage and fatherhood has caused Shrek to think back to the old days when he was a single swamp monster thing who scared everything in sight away.

Now he thinks he wants his freedom.

He's once more unhappy about being domesticated and has to deal with husband/father responsibilities.

When everything boils down, there's a gentle, middle-aged, self-satisfaction to the smooth works of the film, especially with its It's a Wonderful Life plot added on. This gives the whole story a heart-felt twist of light.