Secondhand Reviews: "Puss In Boots"

Rated PG for some animated violence.

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I definitely had what could safely be called mixed emotions walking into this one. While I found the first "Shrek" movie very entertaining, I've thought that each succeeding one was much less so, and the fourth barely even deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as the first. And now we have a spin-off with Puss In Boots? How could that possibly be any good? As it happens, it turns out to be the most entertaining movie connected with the "Shrek" franchise since the first one. And it managed this by not being a slavish imitation of the franchise that launched it... Puss In Boots is not Shrek, and his movie is unique to his own style and character.

The story is a sort of prequel to the Shrek series, set in the days when Puss was a notorious outlaw trying to clear his name. Years before he had befriended Humpty Alexander Dumpty (yes, that one), and together they had searched for the magic beans that would grow the beanstalk that could grow the beanstalk which would get them to the giant's castle (and grab the golden eggs). But Humpty turned bad, betrayed Puss, and their friendship shattered. Now, seven years later, Humpty is trying again, along with the legendary thief Kitty Softpaws. Reluctantly, Puss teams up with Humpty again... and this time it looks like they'll achieve their goal, if they can get the magic beans away from the evil Jack and Jill (yes, I said evil).

I did always have a bit of a soft spot for the Puss In Boots character even in the later, MUCH lesser, Shrek movies. Antonio Banderas just has so much obvious fun spoofing his dashing Zorro persona AS A CAT that he's kind of irresistable. And now that he has his own movie it turns out to be one that is does NOT try to recreate the frantic, manic post-modern style that has made the Shrek movies successful. This is a true, old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure story that takes time to give us a real adventure STORY amidst all the sillyness. And the little touches of "Shrek" style that make their way in are minor and often unnoticeable.

Yes, there are a few famous fairy tale characters who pop up, but only a few... they're not constantly being shoved in your face ("Oh, look who's turned up now!"). I was very relieved to see that there are hardly any contemporary pop culture references, so that the few that are there are actually funny (I was quite amused by the dialogue referencing one of the most famous lines in "Fight Club"). And Puss himself... I know it sounds weird to be saying this about an animated cat, but you really get to feeling that Puss is a genuine character here. A cute and bold adventurer who every now and then runs into circumstances that remind us (and him) that he IS a cat. And a character who can get hurt by the betrayal of a friend. He's actually more "human" than a lot of live action human characters I could name. Humpty is an appealing rogue, too. Voiced by Zach Galifianakis, you know you shouldn't trust him, but you can't help thinking he's really trying to make up for his past. And it gives Galifianakis a very different role from his norm, which he handles well (in fact, I was surprised to see the end credits and realize it WAS him). And Salma Hayek as Kitty Softpaws is every bit as dashing as Puss, and makes me wonder what Banderas' Zorro movies would have been like with her in place of Catherine Zeta Jones.

The movie is every bit as funny as Shrek at his best, but not as sarcastic or self-aware, which is welcome. It has a genuinely sweet and good-natured core, with characters to match. And it's action-packed without ever letting action substitute for good writing or humor (which is a trick I'd like to see more live-action action movies duplicate). As a matter of fact, action movies in general (and period action movies in particular) could learn more than a few tricks from "Puss In Boots".

Dreamworks is to be commended for going against the grain of so many spin-offs and just giving us more and more of what we already got in the main series. If they'd done that you can pretty much be assured that "Puss In Boots" would have been one of those typical bland prequels. But what we have instead is a movie that's pure fun, so much so that I actually wouldn't mind at all if they were to forget about Shrek altogether and just give us an ongoing "Puss In Boots" series. You just know that he's got more solo adventures in him, and I for one would be very happy to follow them. "Puss In Boots"... both the character and the movie... is a real charmer.