Puss in Boots (2011) voices Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton directed by Chris Miller Movie Review

Puss in Boots (2011)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Puss in Boots (2011)

Puss in Boots: Origin

As an orphan Puss in Boots was close to Humpty Alexander Dumpty but when Humpty betrayed him during a bank job Puss was forced to live life on the run whilst trying to clear his name to make his mother proud. But in order to do so Puss will have to once again join forces with Humpty but also Kitty Softpaws who together plan to steal the beans from Jack and Jill to go up the giant beanstalk to steal a golden egg. But it seems that old issues die hard and Puss has been stitched up by someone seeking revenge. Can Puss clear his name, get the girl and make his mum proud by the time the credits finish rolling.

I would have loved to have been in the offices when they were discussing what they could do next with their golden goose, I mean the "Shrek" franchise. I say that because they must have known that they had a product with further potential for profit but one which handled badly would have sunk the franchise well and truly. So I wonder when having decided to do a spin-off what the discussion would have been over whether to do one about Donkey. Anyway they decided to do not only a spin-off but an origin story for Puss in Boots which turns out to be a clever idea as it gives them complete freedom to do what they like and just sticking to the fairytale mixing bowl theme which had been the mainstay of the Shrek movies.

Puss in Boots (2011)

As such "Puss in Boots" gives us the almost classic western storyline of the outlaw wanting to clear his name whilst getting the girl and having to deal with betrayal when it comes to old friends but it is made up of fairytales which have been shaken up so we have Jack and Jill as a couple of gun totting hillbillies and somehow they have the magic beans. It is what you expect and it works because like with the "Shrek" movies, "Puss in Boots" works for both children and adults especially those who are fans of Banderas because of the clever casting of Salma Hayek as Kitty Softpaws bringing plenty of El Mariachi chemistry to the movie between their animated characters.

But I have an issue with "Puss in Boots" as whilst the characters of Puss and Kitty are good as is the combo of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek the rest of the movie comes up a little short. What I mean is that the comedy isn't great and it relies heavily on the humour of Puss being a Zorro style character more than anything.

What this all boils down to is that for the most "Puss in Boots" is a success and it is much to do with Antonio Banderas as it is the producers picking the right character from "Shrek" to build a spin-off from. But the intentional humour doesn't always work and there are times when it clearly thinks it is being funny when in fact it is becoming quite dull.


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