Shrek 2

The swamp ogre goes to meet his bride Princess Fiona's parents in their hometown of Far Far Far: a place of stretch stage-coaches and obsession with physical beauty.

(Edited highlights of the panel's review taken from the teletext subtitles that are generated live for Newsnight Review.)

JOHN HARRIS:
It's extremely hard not to like this film. The characterisation is brilliant. The script is fantastic. I felt quite envious of being probably eight or nine now. When I was that age, I had to put up with awful pious Disney cartoons. This has got fart gags and burp jokes and they're all really well done. From an adult perspective I'm gonna try the anti-globalisation reading of Shrek 2, that was definitely there. There was a bit of mischief going on in the script department. Jennifer Saunders' character, the fairy godmother, who has all the malign aspects of the American dream made flesh, runs a sweat shop! They go and see it and the Shrek character goes in and pretends to be a union organiser. There is even a joke about the lack of dental cover. Someone's having a bit of political mischief in this, which obviously only heightens its' appeal; I was won over. It was fantastic.

MARK LAWSON:
Elaine, this is fantastically knowing; there are endless jokes about Hollywood and other movies, references to James Bond and so on. Did it work for you?

ELAINE SHOWALTER:
100%. For this genre of movie, this is as perfect as it gets. Funny, witty. My three and five-year-old grandchildren loved it. I think it's as close to genius as animated film gets.

MARK LAWSON:
The claim has been made that the Shrek films work on all levels. Do they work on the level of a mid-50s famously grumpy poet?!

TOM PAULIN:
I thought it was terrific. Exactly in that comment, no dental, about the lack of healthcare. It's absolutely brilliant and extraordinary. At one moment, there is suddenly a little portrait of Prince Charles on the wall in the castle.

MARK LAWSON:
It's a Prince Charming joke.

JOHN HARRIS:
But the queen is Princess Diana, isn't it?

TOM PAULIN:
Yes. There is a whole fixation critique of the American fixation with the Royal Family.

ELAINE SHOWALTER:
The American fixation! This is really meet the parents from the commoner's point of view.

TOM PAULIN:
Yes. So there are all sorts of jokes going on which are very complicated in references to Star Bucks and references to Hollywood. It's intriguing, extraordinary and strange. It's a lovely film.

MARK LAWSON:
The movie sequences - some of them are fantastically detailed. There is a Mission Impossible parody which depends on the fact that Pinocchio has to be persuaded to lie so that his nose becomes long enough...

JOHN HARRIS:
I don't want to give the joke away, it's too good. It's Pinocchio's preference that's alluded to in that scene. What's great about it among everything else is the gleeful sense of, dare I say it, post-modern overkill.

MARK LAWSON:
The voice acting they have taken to a new level. I remember in Shrek 1 thinking that Eddie Murphy they should bring in Oscars for voice acting, because his characterisation is so precise. But very clever casting here, I mean the level of person they are getting, someone like Banderas now.

ELAINE SHOWALTER:
Banderas is brilliant. Some of the clippings said he was marking his territory apparently but we don't want to go there.

MARK LAWSON:
Method acting.

ELAINE SHOWALTER:
Yeah, while he was doing this, and it's hilarious. Mike Myers does it with a Scots accent which is pretty good. I didn't really understand why. It was just they thought it was funnier. Originally it was Canadian but they turned it into Scots.

JOHN HARRIS:
But a Spanish cat makes sense?

ELAINE SHOWALTER:
Yes. El gato.