Silly fun with 'Shrek' for the third go-around

"Shrek Forever After"

2 1/2 stars

By Joe Maniscalco

Fairy tale ogres are just as susceptible to post-marital malaise as anyone else. But unlike the big green guys, mortals don’t have access to magical little creatures who can zap tiresome spouses.

Just think of the demand if we did.

Well, in his latest cinematic outing, everyone’s favorite ogre, Shrek (Mike Myers), is so fed up with monotonous days filled with screaming kids, a harping wife and intrusive friends that he’s willing to strike a deal with the dastardly Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) to make it all go away in “Shrek Forever After.”

Shrek longs for his bachelor days when he had a bad ogre rep and could visit the outhouse without a tour bus full of autograph-seekers gawking at him.

Immediately you might be thinking, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” but ogres like Shrek are stupid, so he’s got to find that out the hard way.

The hard way in this case is a twisted take on “It’s a Wonderful Life,” where Shrek has just one day to undo a world in which he was never born.

All of this is fine, but as in the previous Shrek adventures, the really funny parts come from ancillary characters who drop in with quick one-liners and then depart.

Antonio Banderas is a howl as the now-portly Puss in Boots, and both the Gingerbread guy and Pinocchio are still so silly you gotta laugh a little bit.

“Shrek Forever After” even manages to build on the Shrek mythology by teaching us something we never knew about ogres before. Here’s a hint — it has to do with their Andorian-like ears.

The adult references are also back — but rather than entertaining, they’re just creepy.

I, for one, wouldn’t want to have answer the question: “Daddy, why did that man’s toes start curling?”

“Shrek Forever After,” directed by Mike Mitchell. Starring Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz. Runtime 1 hour, 33 minutes. Rated PG.

Playing in Brooklyn at Access Digital Theatres - Pavilion Cinema in Park Slope, Cobble Hill Cinemas, UA Court Street Stadium 12 in Downtown, UA Sheepshead Bay 14, and Kent Theatre in Coney Island.