REVIEW – PUSS IN BOOTS

PUSS IN BOOTS
Directed by: Chris Miller
Written by: Brian Lynch, David H. Steinberg, Tom Wheeler, Jon Zack
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris

After SHREK FOREVR AFTER, the fourth entry in the increasingly disappointing SHREK franchise, DreamWorks Animation smartly retired the giant green ogre, if only temporarily (a reboot or remake is all but guaranteed within a decade). Despite declining interest in the SHREK franchise (and universe), DreamWorks Animation’s CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg, gave the go-ahead to move forward with a spin-off of a minor, supporting character, Puss in Boots. Directed by Chris Miller (SHREK THE THIRD), the result, the aptly, if unimaginatively titled, PUSS IN BOOTS succeeds where the SHREK sequels failed, creating a consistently entertaining mix of action, humor, and adventure, minus (actually it’s a plus) the tiresome inside jokes and stale pop-culture gags that made SHREK and its sequels disposable, mediocre entertainment.

PUSS IN BOOTS follows Puss in Boots (voiced, once again by Antonio Banderas), French writer Charles Perrault’s sword-carrying, hat-wearing, boot-sporting creation, on an adventure seemingly unrelated to Shrek or the SHREK franchise. Interviews and online sources suggest that the events in PUSS IN BOOTS occur well before Puss in Boots crosses paths with Shrek, but the events could easily happen after they cross paths and become allies, if not friends. In short, we can simply pretend that PUSS IN BOOTS exists, at best, tangentially, in the margins of the SHREK universe, a development bound to thrill anyone exhausted, bored, or annoyed by the SHREK franchise (like this writer). In fact, let’s just go and pretend PUSS IN BOOTS’ bears no relation to the SHREK franchise and judge it on its merits, if any.

When we meet Puss in Boots, he’s escaping from a bounty hunter. We’re immediately reminded that Puss in Boots is a lover and a fighter, but probably prefers the former to the latter. An wanted-outlaw, Puss in Boots has spent the better part of his adult life fleeing bounty hunters and law enforcement, engaging in petty and grand larceny as need dictates and circumstances arise, and otherwise living a responsibility-free lifestyle. His latest score presents itself when he overhears a pub-crawling ruffian discussing “magic beans,” the same magic beans once owned by the “Jack” of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” The magic beans’ current owners, Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris), aren’t the Jack and Jill of storybook lore or legend, at least not the Jack and Jill as we remember them from our distant youth, but dishonorable thieves and ruthless cutthroats (are there any other kind?). They’re also a romantic, but thankfully not siblings.

Puss in Boots’ plan to steal the magic beans predictably goes sideways when he encounters a (literal) cat burglar, Kitty Southpaws (Salma Hayek), attempting to steal the beans too. Their tussle gets them noticed by Jack and Jill, setting up the first of many humor-filled set pieces, choreographed to maximum 3D effect, to come. In pursuing Kitty Southpaws to an underground hideout, Puss in Boots comes across Humpty Alexander Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), Puss in Boots one-time foster brother, best friend forever (until he wasn’t), and partner in crime (until a betrayal ended their friendship and partnership at the same time). Puss in Boots eventually agrees to join Humpty and Kitty to steal the magic beans, but not before Puss in Boots opens his heart to Kitty through an extended flashback sequence.

That flashback sequence might cause restlessness among smaller children and even some adults, but Miller, working from a screenplay credited to Brian Lynch, David H. Steinberg, Tom Wheeler, and Jon Zack, handles it deftly, consistently mixing in character- and situation-based humor (again, minus the usual barrage of pop culture jokes that made the SHREK franchise a chore to experience) with light action and adventure. The return to the present kicks PUSS IN BOOTS back into high gear, only letting up for all-important, super-secret (not really) character revelations, before plunging back into one extended set piece after another, each as well-choreographed and easy to follow as the last (steady camerawork and editing, a benefit of 3D, often goes unacknowledged, but it won’t here).

With DreamWorks Animation at their near-best (only KUNG FU PANDA and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON are better visually), the world-building (e.g., architecture, landscapes), character designs, dynamic expressiveness, and visual storytelling aided by a surprisingly strong screenplay make PUSS IN BOOTS as close to a must-see for animation enthusiasts and family-oriented moviegoers (i.e., parents and their children).