|
Puss in Boots
| Released |
9 December 2011 |
| Director |
Chris Miller |
Starring
|
Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton |
Writer(s)
|
David H. Steinberg, Tom Wheeler, Jon Zack |
| Producer(s) |
Joe M. Aguilar, Latifa Ouaou |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
90 minutes |
| Genre |
Animation, adventure, comedy |
| Rating |
G |
|
|
Bad-ass Kitty!
Shrek was an enormous hit for the Dreamworks studio back in 2001. It was also a hit with the critics but unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for the two dire sequels that followed. They managed to pull some of that goodwill back with the fourth film in the series, Shrek Forever After, which while not as good as the original, was at least enjoyable enough. One of the few positives of the sequels however was the introduction of the character of Puss in Boots.
Voiced by Antonio Banderas, the characterisation drew heavily on that actor’s CV. Although the actual Puss in Boots as created originally by Charles Perrault in the seventeenth century was a French aristocrat, Dreamworks transformed him into a Zorro-like figure, the character Banderas played in two films. With the Shrek franchise having hopefully run its course now, Dreamworks are looking for ways to extend the hugely profitable franchise so the cat with the illogical footwear gets his own spin-off feature.
The film tells the story of how Puss in Boots became who he is. Set in what looks like a Mexican village, Puss (Banderas) is a roving outlaw. When drinking (milk) at a tavern, the locals tell him the tale of notorious villains Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris). Apparently they’ve gotten hold of magic beans, the sort that Jack sold the family cow for. According to legend, the beans grow a massive vine that reaches into the sky to an infamous castle. In the castle there’s a giant who owns a goose that lays golden eggs. Thankfully, most of these nursery rhymes are out of copyright or else this film would owe a fortune.
Puss attempts to steal the beans from Jack and Jill but his efforts are foiled by a mystery rival cat. He tracks the cat back to its lair and in one of the best set-pieces in the film, they have a hilarious ‘dance-fight’. Eventually the cat is revealed to be a female, Kitty Soft Paws, a notorious thief. In a somewhat predictable bit of casting Salma Hayek, Banderas’s old mucker and Desperado co-star, voices Kitty. However it turns out that an old friend of Puss, Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) is working with Kitty. We then see a long flashback of how Humpty and Puss grew up together in an orphanage but how Humpty betrayed him. Despite his reservations Puss agrees to work with the pair to steal the beans from Jack and Jill.
This isn’t anywhere near as good as the first Shrek film, but neither is it as bad as some of the sequels. It’s safely in the middle ground as a decent enough and watchable effort. It’s rarely laugh-out loud funny but it is constantly amusing. Banderas is on good form as Puss, bringing his usual brand of charisma to the role. Hayek is a little dull as Kitty though and despite their best efforts there is little spark between her and Banderas. Playing Jack and Jill as two hillbilly grotesques, Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris are quite a bit of fun. The undoubted star of the show is Hangover star Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Dumpty. He brings a nice touch of demented madness to the part and gets most of the best lines.
Overall this is a pleasing enough effort to be getting on with but you’d hope that, if there has to be sequels, the quality won’t take a nosedive like the franchise it came from.
-
Jim O’Connor |
