Puss in Boots

So my wife and I went to watch Puss in Boots the other day. She's a big Shrek fan and she simply adores cats, so this was a no-brainer in terms of the date department. I'm not so big on cats, but Shrek is a decent movie series, so I didn't mind going either.

We saw it in 3-D, not because either of us are huge 3-D movie buffs, but because that was the only showing that fit into our schedule. As far as that goes it really wasn't worth the extra dollar. I kind of wish Hollywood would stop with the 3-D gimmick. In the few 3-D movies I've seen it's been kinda cool, but it really didn't add anything to the movie, and sometimes detracted from the experience. But that's a review for a different time. (Though I'll probably never get to it, since I don't watch many 3-D movies.)

Anyway...


Overall the movie was pretty good. I'd say on-par with the other Shrek movies (minus Shrek the 3rd, because that one was pretty terrible.) If I had to rank it, I'd say it probably takes 4th place, but that's not to say it's a bad movie, it's just got some idiosyncrasies that detract from an otherwise enjoyable movie.

So, in case you aren't aware, Puss in Boots is about the titular Puss as he goes about to clear his name of a crime he didn't really commit back in his youth. One day, he is told about Jack and Jill, two villains who have recently acquired the magic beans of legend. He sets out to get the beans, and is unwillingly thrust into a partnership with Kitty Softpaws, a brilliant thief who is his match at dance and maybe even swordplay, and also Humpty Dumpty, an egg who shares a past with Puss. Together they race against Jack and Jill to see who can keep the beans and get to the goose that lays the golden eggs first.

Overall, I kind of liked how the story was told like a Spaghetti Western. The general Spexican feel of the setting was pretty cool, though it didn't really seem to fit in with the feel of the other Shrek movies. But that's okay; this movie was all about Puss. Puss himself was in top form, and it was neat to get a bit of backstory on him.

Kitty was an interesting character, though her tragic backstory didn't really come off as tragic as it could have. I really liked Jack and Jill, and wish they could have been the real antagonists of the movie. They had just the right amount of menace to be threatening and the right amount of comedic sociopathy to be a good kind of funny that belongs in the Shrek universe. Humpty was... well, he's interesting. I didn't like him at all, but then again, he was meant to be an unlikable character. So I guess mission accomplished there. I just wish that his actions had made any sense at the end of the movie. His heel face turn happened on a dime and there was no reason for it whatsoever. It's not a big spoiler to say that he's the real villain because they make it painfully obvious almost from the beginning. However at the end he has a change of heart for literally NO REASON AT ALL. It made the climax of the movie so very unsatisfying and just compounded the fact that I really wished that Jack and Jill had been the real bad guys instead of red herrings.

And just to nitpick a little bit. There was one running gag... If you've seen the movie you know which one I'm talking about. The one with that one cat. It wasn't funny. Maybe it would be to small children, but when you get right down to it, it just wasn't funny. I wish they hadn't made it a running gag... But it's a little thing, so...

Bottom Line: It's got a few problems, but overall it's a very enjoyable movie, especially if you already like the Shrek movies.