daniel cohen looks at the Shrek spinoff …
Plot: The origin of Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas), and how he came to be the legend we know today. While on a quest to steal the magic beans so he can repay a debt, Puss’ mission reunites him with Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), whom he has a troubled past with.
If you’re going to do a spin-off movie about a Shrek character, at least it’s not Donkey. Can you imagine a two hour movie of Donkey singing? Yikes. I will say this though: Puss In Boots is definitely better than the previous two Shrek films. At first I thought there was no way this character could carry an entire movie. He’s a perfect complementary component to pop up every now and then. And in the first 10 minutes, my fears were realized. But as the story became clearer, and Puss was fleshed out a bit more, it became a fairly enjoyable romp, but it certainly has its claws .. I mean flaws, sorry.
The beginning is kind of confusing. I’m not really sure what Puss is after, or why he’s constantly on the move. The script isn’t very clear. It’s not until we get a full on flashback that the entire story comes into focus, but it does meander for quite a while as I felt like I was just watching Puss in Shrek 2 again. It’s the same thing.
The flashback is pretty cool though. It’s not really what I expected Puss’ origin to be. The introduction of Humpty Dumpty as a major player in Puss’ back story is pretty interesting. I like this character a lot, and he’s certainly the most developed. He’s crafty and silly, sympathetic and sad, and other times he’s just a big douche. And the weird thing is that Zach Galifianakis voices Humpty, and I had no idea it was him the entire time! How did I not recognize Zach Galifianakis’ voice? Unbelievable.
The overall story is engaging. There are a lot of fun elements in how they play with fairy tales, ala the Shrek series. I love Jack and Jill, voiced by Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris, respectively. Although I’m guessing this is a different Jack and Jill from the ones will be seeing in the new Adam Sandler movie. The story also offers a lot of great action. There’s a moment where the magic bean stock begins to grow that’s really cool to watch. There are plenty of good chase scenes as well. They definitely deliver on the adventure that the character promises.
While I enjoyed the story, and Puss was certainly somebody I rooted for, the biggest problem I have with this movie is that it’s just too predictable. This makes the film drag. You can call plot points ten minutes before they happen. Aside from the flashback, the film offers nothing we haven’t seen before. It’s too paint by numbers. This is really apparent with the female lead Kitty Softpaws. She’s voiced by Selma Hayek in a role we’ve seen her do 900 times. The movie really needed a different kind of female lead.
What was also needed was more comedy. It’s not funny at all. Yes, it has its share of clever moments such as an intense dance fight in a seedy cat under dwelling, but there wasn’t enough of this. And when the movie tried to be funny, the jokes weren’t hitting, and even worse than that, they dragged out the really unfunny ones. An old man who keeps falling asleep while telling a story hasn’t been funny since 1974. Also … way too many egg puns.
The relationship and conflict between Puss and Humpty kept me intrigued, and I really liked the conclusion to Humpty’s character, but the plot overall was just way to ‘been there, done that.’ This movie reminded me a lot of another film earlier this year, Rango. While I think Rango has a strong protagonist, the plot surrounding him was boring, and there were very little jokes to spice it up. I do think Puss In Boots has stronger supporting characters though. I’d recommend Puss in Boots. It’s a solid film. But to be honest, I think it fails as a kid’s movie. I don’t see what would entertain them in here except maybe a few dancing cats and some pretty colors.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10 (Slightly Better than ‘Meh’)
