PUSS IN BOOTS

Puss in Boots (2011)

Grade: C+

Featuring the Voices of: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris and Guillermo Del Toro

PREMISE: Before he ever met Shrek and Donkey, the famed Latino cat gained a reputation as a lover, a fighter, an outlaw, and an adventurer, plus one of the few who knew the real Humpty Dumpty.

RATED PG for action, plus some crude humor and suggestive references

We all know by now that the Shrek thing has been overdone. After the first snarky anti-fairy tale burst onscreen back in 2001, chock full of all-ages-welcome wit and pop culture references, a trend was started. Three mega-lucrative but increasingly-bland sequels later, Shrek is a massive enterprise that's made nearly as much money worldwide as Star Wars. But with that saga finished (thankfully), the Dreamworks studio execs had another possible franchise (let's hope not) in waiting, spinoffs involving one of the favorite characters. Puss, a bright orange cat with goo-goo eyes and a Mexican accent, first came onto the scene in 2004's Shrek 2, and he's been a staple ever since. What with his sword-swinging heroics, his charming/amusing voice and his style, Puss almost immediately became a cash cow unto himself, which is why, just seven years after his first appearance in a film, he's got a movie all his own.

It should tell you something about how I feel about Puss in Boots that I'm just writing the review today, and I watched it eleven days ago. There's some intriguing action, some characteristically witty tongue-in-cheek images and references, and a great, expressive voice performance from Zach Galifianakis (of The Hangover fame), but it just feels tired--it feels as though it was conceived and created just to make money (sorry if you don't agree with me that that's the only reason it was made). You know you're in trouble when there are two lengthy musical interludes that feel more like a way to take up time than anything else.

Plot: Right from the start, Puss (voiced, as per usual, by Banderas) is after something: the magic beans coveted and kept by roughneck outlaws Jack (voice of Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris). But an early attempt to swipe the beans is foiled by the presence of another feline bandit, one eventually revealed to be the slinky Kitty Softpaws (voice of Salma Hayek). Intrigued by her attitude, Puss wants to get to know her, but he finds out allying himself with her comes with a price: he must agree to help Humpty (Galifianakis) try to recover the magic beans. Helping Humpty is hard because Puss was once best friends with the egg-shaped man, but he was lied to and betrayed when Humpty used him to help him steal from the bank of a small town, San Ricardo, that, until then, regarded Puss as a hero. Since then, he's been an outlaw, but Humpty's plan to steal the eggs, grow the famed beanstalk, and grab the Golden Goose could mean a lifetime of riches and ease for himself, Puss, and Kitty. It's just a matter of how long former friends Puss and Humpty can stand each other, and how long they can evade the nefarious Jack and Jill.

What Works?
Honestly, a lot. Of course, Banderas is right at home in his fourth go-round as Puss, Hayek is a solid if unspectacular addition, and Galifianakis is a delight--he's on the same plane, expressive voice-wise, as Robin Williams (Aladdin) and Jeremy Irons (The Lion King). The name "Humpty Alexander Dumpty", alone, makes me chuckle. Thornton and Sedaris add a few laughs, and there are some rousing action sequences and even one good shock in the middle of the movie. Some of the novelty has worn off the wink-wink pop-culture/fairy-tale references Shrek was so good at, but a couple are still worth a mention, such as a feline nightclub called The Glitter Box.

What Doesn't Work?
Like I said: somehow, it just all feels tired.  Most of the puns are too obvious to be particularly funny, the ending is not only predictable, it's also unclear (why doesn't Puss understand that Humpty didn't die?), and the nice-guy depiction of the titular feline doesn't quite fit with the idea that he was a famed killer-for-hire in Shrek 2. That might seem like nitpicking, but it's important to understand that you can't just make up whatever you want to about a character whose been established in the public consciousness for seven years, even in a children's movie.

Content: 
Please. Other than a few brief suggestive references that only adults will get, or some rough-housing and tom-foolery, there's nothing here any member of the family can't watch. The smallest children might get scared, but everything turns out okay. Especially when you can make love-me-love-me eyes like Puss.

Bottom Line (I Promise): I'm usually a sucker for animated movies, so you know you've underachieved when I walked away feeling ho-hum. Maybe I was expecting too much, given that it's a spinoff of a children's movie series that went long in the tooth about five years ago, but Puss but overdoses on, and doesn't try hard enough with, the sort of clever ideas that made Shrek so delightful. This is certainly a passable family entertainment, but it's not in the same stratosphere as its source material for great storytelling.