Rating of
2/4
Review of Puss In Boots
trophywife - wrote on 11/04/11
Let me start off this review by pointing out two very important background notes: First, although I enjoyed the Shrek franchise in general ---and more particularly the first film, since the sequels seemed to lose their charm, as sequels almost always tend to do---one of my least favorite characters in the mix was Puss in Boots. Dress him in any costume you’d like, Antonio Banderas is pretty unlikely to sweep me off my feet. And second, I am, in no uncertain terms, NOT a fan of cats in general. The ones in my neighborhood clearly have an unwritten understanding that my landscaping is the perfect community liter box, and don’t get me started on how aloof they are—give me a slobbering, eager to please dog any day over a cat. How’s that for endearing myself to the cat lover’s out there?
THE GOOD: If you have been wondering all these years just EXACTLY how Puss ended up wearing those dashing high heeled pirate boots, Dreamworks has taken it upon themselves to tell you the story from the very beginning. Puss is an orphaned kitty that ends up, along with a mixture of children, animals and fairytale creatures alike, in a Spanish Orphanage, run by a woman who Puss affectionately calls mother. It’s here in this orphanage that Puss meets another orphan, Humpty Dumpty (voiced by Zach Galifianakis), and the two become best friends. Unfortunately, the egg’s “devilish” side (didn’t see that one coming did you?) gets the best of him, and he ends up betraying Puss….and this is where we flash back to the present and understand that Puss’s outlaw persona is not something he chose, but is definitely something he has vowed to repair. The race is on to find the “magic beans” that are being held hostage by Jack and Jill, who I always thought were brother and sister in the nursery rhyme, but apparently they are an item…..or maybe this is all just taking place in Arkansas. It’s all a little unclear. But the two of them are grown up and, for lack of a better description, flat out homely. After an attempt at a reconciliation with Puss, Humpty and his friend Kitty Softpaws (voiced by Salma Hayek) convince Puss to join forces with them to rescue the beans, find the golden egg laying goose, and Puss hopes that all of this will help restore his good name.
The animation in the movie is absolutely amazing, as we have come to expect from Dreamworks. I didn’t see it in 3D, but once again, I don’t think much would have been gained from paying the extra cash and wearing the glasses. The film itself was stunning enough with its graphics and layout. And although the humor wasn’t as frequent or clever as you might hope, there were definitely some moments of laugh out loud dialogue.
THE BAD: Given the demographic of people at the showing I went to, I would wager that not a lot of adults are going to this movie WITHOUT children in tow. Sadly, I felt that the humor in this was geared more towards the adults and that it went over the heads of most of the kids in attendance. A shining example of this is the rough hombre in the bar whose body is all tattooed with the story of the magic beans, and piece by piece he reveals the depictions to Puss, until he comes to the part about the golden eggs, and goes to unbutton his pants, at which point Puss begs him to stop; the adults in the audience are laughing hysterically, I let out a small stifled scream, and my nine year old daughter who was with me keeps saying “What? What? What just happened?” It was moments like that, along with the fact that, 20 minutes into the movie, my daughter sighed and said she wished we had gone to see ‘Real Steel' instead, that made me wonder if Dreamworks had missed its target audience…so much for cute animated kittens winning the heart of a little girl who has a room full of stuffed animals. Maybe she is inheriting my cat disdain.
THE UGLY: I can’t deny that my daughter’s apparent lack of interest in the movie happened to coincide with the appearance of Humpty Alexander Dumpty, who, to be completely honest, freaked me out a little. You have a giant egg head, and the face was shockingly lifelike. That was bad enough, but when Jack and Jill started discussing the possibility of starting a family together, I felt a little nauseated. They were already tending a herd of warthogs and treating them like their babies…and if we are going to be honest here, given the whole brother and sister thing I mentioned earlier, any potential offspring would probably be just about as furry.
Don’t go to Puss in Boots expecting to be charmed by the witty dialogue and creativity of the original Shrek film---it’s not there. But I was impressed with the clever background story, and there’s no denying that Dreamworks knows how to deliver in the animation department. Younger kids may find the storyline somewhat confusing and over their heads in certain places, although there is plenty of action to hold their attention. And if you like hearing Antonio Banderas say “Iyam Pusssssss---- NBOOTS!!” there’s a lot of that as well.
The Trophy Wife gives this movie 2 ½ trophies.
Puss in Boots has a running time of 1 hr 30 minutes and is rated PG for adventure action and some mild rude humor.
