Puss in Boots

Voices of: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris, Constance Marie, Guillermo del Toro
Directed by: Chris Miller
Rating: PG
Genre: Animated, Adventure, Comedy
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) searches for the magic beans that will lead him to the castle in the sky- and the golden goose.

Review:

Tim: I have to admit that at this point, I've grown a bit tired of Shrek and his friends. Sure, the first movie was great and the second movie was really good, but the quality dropped off. However, if anyone deserved their own spin-off movie, it was definitely Antonio Banderas' Puss in Boots. So, I approached this film was cautious optimism. I hoped there was enough in the tank. Unfortunately, I felt like this film was pretty "blah".

I should say that I loved Puss in the Shrek movies. He's such a cool character, and Banderas is the perfect actor to voice him. It's fun to watch a cat swordfight and leap around all nimbly-bimbly. This film wisely separates the story from the Shrek universe, giving Puss his own stand-alone story. Although, I am a bit confused as to the timeline. I'm guessing this is a prequel. It was actually nice just having a film with Puss.

I thought the story was decent, but not great. It was clever how they weaved in Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, and Jack in the Beanstalk. That was pretty fun to see all those fairy tale elements mashed together. Unfortunately, besides those elements, the basic story felt pretty tired. It was predictable and not overly exciting. I was surprised that the film wasn't very funny. Sure, there's a few humorous moments here and there (and I love that cat who said "Ohhh!"). Overall, though, the movie felt far too cheap on the humor. I suppose it was interesting how this film paid homage to other films, namely the Zorro movies.

I thought Antonio Banderas did a great job with Puss. As I mentioned, he is the perfect actor for this role, and I loved hearing his voice here. I also liked the casting of Salma Hayek as Kitty. Hayek and Banderas have such history on screen together, and it was fun hearing their voices reunited here. I also thought Zach Galifianakis did a good job as Humpty. His voice isn't immediately recognizable, so it was easy for me to get into his character. Billy Bob Thornton was an odd choice to voice Jack, but he did a good job, too. Overall, I really didn't have any complaints about the voice cast.

I very much wish I would have enjoyed Puss in Boots more. It's not like the movie is bad, necessarily, there just wasn't anything special about the movie. There weren't any terrific, classic scenes. The film is far too forgettable. Besides a few bright moments here and there, the movie just felt very "blah" to me. I know that's not the most loquacious or descriptive way to explain the film, but that's how it felt to me.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third