Film Review: Puss In Boots

Blu-Ray: Puss In Boots   6/10
Director: Chris Miller

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis

Plot: takes place during Puss In Boots’ pre-Shrek days, a quest to find the magic beans begins.

The Shrek films have avoided the word ‘franchise’ since its first instalment back in 2001, but many haven’t realised that a total of seven features have sprouted thanks to the green ogre. There’s been; Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After and now Puss in Boots, along with two shorts; Shrek the Halls and Scared Shrekless, which have both been released straight-to-DVD with success (despite their short running time). All the full-length Shrek films did phenomenally well at the box office and now one of its stars, Puss In Boots, played by Antonio Banderas, has taken to the silver screen all alone with moderate success.

The films director, Chris Miller, who also directed Shrek the Third (by far the weakest in the series) transitions Puss from the sidelines of being a sidekick, to centre stage, surprisingly well. The same old jokes are there and yes, the cute, watery eyes return, along with lots of new jokes, many of which feature Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), whose practical jokes are eggcelent (an example for you). Humpty is probably the best part of the film in its entirety; he keeps the film flowing as he gets stuck, jumps off high places and rolls all over the place during scenes of utter chaos – bringing a breath of fresh air. The film does certainly suffer, however, by being set nowhere near Far Far Away. The film doesn’t have the same fairytale feel as Shrek which makes it seem a little too real (which you really do not want when watching a film such as this)

The films storyline is extremely basic and the ‘cat fights’ between Puss and his girl-friend, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), become slightly tedious and forced after the first half, something which reminded me of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film (with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruze constantly arguing from beginning to end – it really made the film suffer). The action in the film is best seen in 3D, the film suffers from being watched in 2D from home but the animation is done superbly, especially in the Blu-Ray format in which I saw it.

In conclusion: Puss in Boots is rich in its visuals, fast moving in its story and comical in its nature, it’s not Shrek, but it’s better than many of the latest animations to be released – your elders will love it too!