Cinema Review: Puss in boots

Puss in Boots, the one from “Shrek” on his own solo adventure.

Puss in Boots is certainly the breakthrough character from the “Shrek” franchise. Everybody loves Puss in Boots, I love him too, so isn’t a surprise that they developed a spin off for him after realizing that Shrek story really ended with the first movie, is more a question of “It’s incredible they took so long”.

This movie clearly proves that Puss in Boots, in this strange Mexican incarnation brought by an independent Antonio Banderas decision, works as a main lead. Not every sidekick manages the jump but he’s clearly able to hold an entire movie, even saddled with a not very good plot (more on this later) on his feline shoulders. Maybe the trick is that, citing Antonio Banderas, “He thinks he’s six foot tall”, which means that Puss in Boots manages to be the comic sidekick and the epic lead all in one furry persona.

With the plot sadly they resorted to standard Hollywood fare so we get the obligatory origin story, a very banal one to boot, the obligatory personal problem to overcome and the obligatory love story. Regarding the last the movie introduces us to Kitty Softpaws who is practically a version of Puss in Boots with added tits but with virtual no characterization, no back story and a fairly annoying attitude. Apparently in “Shrek” world there are normal cats and crazy talking acrobatic cats that walk around in boots, I wonder if they are two distinct races….

The new setting is basically Zorro’s Mexico, with added fairy tales characters wandering around. It got his charms visually and stylistically but in the end it’s all missing it’s spark, it’s nice to look at but compared to some recent masterpieces like “Arthur Christmas” it simply comes short.

With all his short comings “Puss in boots” in the end is still fairly entertaining. There are some decent laughs while the plot comes along at a nice pace, all probably due to the charisma of his feline protagonist. There’s something to be said for a movie that is simply enjoyable, it’s just that from “Puss in Boots” we were expecting much more.