Puss In Boots

Director: Chris Miller

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Selma Hayek & Zach Galifianakis

Rating: ★★★★

Spin Off! Yes, I’m trying to sound like Troy McClure in one of The Simpsons episodes, okay?  But seriously, what other two entertainment related words in the English language can inspire such joy, and such disgust at the same time amongst communities of hardcore fans? 

Taking a character from the massively successful Shrek series and giving him his own movie was either going to be excellent viewing or a terrible disaster, and I am happy to report that spin off Puss in Boots is a wonderful success, as they take the character that we all know and love and give him time to shine in a action packed fun filled star studded prequel. 

Puss. In. Boots.

The main thrust of the story is based around Puss in Boot’s old friend, Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis) and their attempt to travel up a beanstalk to find the golden goose and steal it, so they can be rich. Along the way Puss in Boots (Banderas) meets Kitty Softpaws (Hayek), a thief working alongside Humpty Dumpty, and runs into Jack and Jill, a fearsome duo who have the elusive magic beans to grow the beanstalk. There is also lots of back story, showing where Puss in Boots came from, how he evolved into a puss in boots, and why he is considered an outlaw in the Shrek film series.

Puss is a great character and rightly deserves his own movie, as he is strong enough to hold the film together. In comparison to Shrek, Puss in Boots takes a different direction by being more action orientated, and less of a comedy, as there are nowhere near as many jokes as its counterparts. But, instead of lashings of humour, we get extended action sequences that are breathtaking and exciting, and we as get some real drama as we explore Puss’ early life and his friendship with Humpty Dumpty. The romantic subplot is kind of unnecessary, but it is fun to see the two cats competing for each others affection by taking part in dance-offs and sword fights. Because of its focus on an exciting and adventurous journey, I feel that boys would appreciate this more than girls: I loved it as a grown man, but if I was a young boy I’m pretty sure it would be one of my new favourite films!

Puss and Kitty Softpaws getting to know one another...

There are some excellent moments, including a wagon chase across a canyon, a trip up the beanstalk, an escape sequence from the giant’s castle, and the ending fight between Puss, his townsfolk and the ‘monster’. In 3D, these action packed moments are exhilarating and spectacular: I particularly liked watching them ‘climb’ the beanstalk, probably my favourite part of the movie, and jump across marshmallow clouds, which is excellent. I feel that every adult and child in the audience would love to be able to bounce around on fluffy clouds!

Puss is on form as a cute but valiant hero, but Humpty Dumpty steals a lot of screen time as Puss’ distant friend who has played a large part in his upbringing. For the role that he plays within the movie, he gets real depth, and isn’t just a two dimensional character, instead he is well rounded and fully fleshed out, even though he is (presumably) hard boiled. Because of this, we get some very emotional scenes, and there is also some real pathos towards Puss’ love interest Kitty Softpaws, as she explains the reason for her name.

You can't help but laugh at Humpty Dumpty dressed as a golden egg!

There are also some funny dance sequences and fight scenes, as well as a hilarious scene stealing cat who plays a similar role to the little boy in Shrek 4 that says ‘do the roar’.

I really enjoyed watching Puss in Boots. It was a great fun filled action packed adventure that makes us love Puss even more, as well as helping us to remember why we fell in love with not only him but with all of the Shrek characters, the Shrek world, and the Shrek movies in the first place.