Shrek The Third

On 6th June 2007 I happened to be at the New Zealand premiere of this movie, but only because I was going into the next screen to see Hot Fuzz.

Still, the hubbub in the Newmarket foyer outside made me almost sorry that I was not a part of the Shrek fan club. It’s hard to forget the sight of a giant Shrek making his way through the crowds of excited fans.

As with earlier instalments, Shrek the Third is not so much about the story as the gags. The King is dying, and speaks of an heir whom Shrek, Sid Marty Donkey and Puss In Boots must go on a short quest to find. Along the way, all manner of insanity invades events, which is a good thing too given the constant threat of babies. (babies cripple comedies)

As expected, my viewing of this film did suffer from the previous chapter’s revoicing of some characters for the UK. When Doris (voiced by Larry King) showed up, I just wasn’t sure if this was the same character as in the previous film, simply because she wasn’t voiced by Jonathan Ross. It later turned out that despite being PAL, the New Zealand DVD contains the US version of the film, not that there’s any way to tell from the box before buying. Perhaps there was a foreign English language option that I missed?

Queen Lillian: ”What? You didn't think you inherited your fighting skills from your father?”

Not so crazy. We’re still waiting to hear who Fiona inherited her American accent from…

Also, one of the DVD extras features Merlin, but not voiced by the film’s Eric Idle. That’s Monty Python’s Eric Idle, who sadly gets no dialogue with John Cleese. Despite a fantastic cast, the actual casting is disappointingly miscalculated.

Still, as I said above, the non-stop gags smooth over everything.

Donkey: "Look out! They got a piano!"

Merlin: "Sorry, kid, I don't do that stuff anymore. How about a hug? That's the best kind of magic there is!"

Prince Charming: "You! You can't lie! So tell me puppet... where... is... Shrek?"
Pinocchio: "Uh. Hmm, well, uh, I don't know where he's not."
Prince Charming: "You're telling me you don't know where Shrek is?"
Pinocchio: "It wouldn't be inaccurate to assume that I couldn't exactly not say that it is or isn't almost partially incorrect."
Prince Charming: "So you do know where he is!"
Pinocchio: "On the contrary. I'm possibly more or less not definitely rejecting the idea that in no way with any amount of uncertainty that I undeniably do or do not know where he shouldn't probably be, if that indeed wasn't where he isn't. Even if he wasn't at where I knew he was. That'd mean I'd really have to know where he wasn't."

My favourite laugh though would have to be the gingerbread man seeing his life flashing before him. That little biscuit’s led such a full life!

(with thanks to Brett and Kristen)

(some version or other of it (good luck figuring out which) available here)
Related reviews:

Shrek
Shrek 2
Shrek The Halls
Shrek Forever After