Puss In Boots: A Review

Before I go into the review, I want to tell you something about myself.  It is very difficult to get me to sit in one place for any length of time.  As such, I never went to many movies (much to the frustration of my now-ex-wife) (Hi, Becka!).  Even the movies I went to I sometimes had to leave if it wasn't holding my attention enough, or if I couldn't talk my way through it (riffing and whatnot).

That has somehow changed as of late: In the past year or so, I actually made a point of seeing three movies in theaters:

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
the new Winnie the Pooh
and, now, Puss In Boots

The latter two were at the suggestions of my kids, Baby and Ben.  (Not biological children, of course, but if you've been following me for any length of time, you'd already know that)  It was actually during the previews of Winnie the Pooh that I saw the trailer for Puss.

At that point, it was pretty much unanimous: we HAD to see this movie.

So, because Baby and Ben are pretty much in charge this weekend, we went and saw it on opening weekend.

Best.  Idea.  EVER!

First thing I'll get out of the way are the previews, most of which I had no interest in, except for comedy.

Happy Feet 2: Flying penguins and melting polar ice caps being shoved in our face.  Um, no.

Hugo: I... have no idea what to say about this movie.  The trailer tells me nothing about the movie except it's about a boy and his mechanical doll and a girl with its key, and a police constable determined to get him despite his only "crime" being not having parents.  Even the constable's dog seemed to be embarrassed to be in the trailer.  I'm not a big fan of trailers that give everything away, but neither am I fan of trailers that tell you NOTHING ABOUT THE MOVIE.  I have no compelling reason to see it, and that's not the reaction to a movie trailer should be.

But I digress...

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked: Even Baby thought this was going to be stupid.  And he's very forgiving of little kid things.  Pass like Aaron Rodgers.

The Muppets: As much as I like metahumor, all the trailers I've seen indicate that this movie seems to be entirely centered around meta, and I think that's going to be what kills this movie.  It is possible to OD on both nostalgia and meta, and I think this movie, despite the slick ad campaigns, will die from it.

The Adventures of TinTin: Two words: Uncanny Valley.  This is an entirely animated movie made up of almost-too realistic human characters.  There is really no reason this couldn't have been made with live people, even with a CGI set (See also: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow).  It's not quite as detailed as Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, but getting closer.  And I think that will turn some people off.  The story looks interesting, but... eh...

Okay, with that out of the way, Let's get to the movie proper.

To start with, let me say that I have not seen any of the Shrek movies, nor do I have any intention of doing so.  So some of the ideas presented here may in fact be a function of its predecessors.  I'm going by this movie on its own merits without comparison to any of the Shrek movies.

I won't give away any plot details, or, at least, I'll try not to, but here goes:

Puss, again voiced by Antonio Banderas to great effect, is looking for his next big score, when he's told about how the infamous outlaws Jack and Jill (Voiced by Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedarkis, respectively) came upon some magic beans which, as you've probably guessed, lead to a giant's castle in the clouds and a goose that lays golden eggs.  (The scene with this bit of exposition sets the tone for the sense of humor in this movie)

It seems that Puss has been looking for these magic beans for years, so he follows this lead, only to be thwarted by the movie's love interest/foil Kitty Softpaws, voiced by Salma Hayek.  The two play off of each other perfectly and have great chemistry together.

After a very well-done chase scene, Puss discovers that Kitty is working with an old frenemy of Puss's, Humpty Dumpty, voiced by Zach Galifianakis.  Apparently, the two of them started out as friends in the same orphanage, seeking the same magic beans that started this whole thing, but had a falling out when Puss saved the Commandante's mother from a bull released by Humpty's careless actions.

Puss became a hero and stand-up guy, while Humpty took a lower road.  In the end, after tricking Puss into helping him commit a very heinous crime, Puss is branded an outlaw and leaves Humpty to the mercy of the town.

After some convincing, the three of them work together to steal the beans from Jack and Jill, go up to the Giant's castle, and steal the golden goose (mainly because the eggs were too heavy to steal).

That's as far as I'll go into the plot due to spoilers, but the plot twists - some obvious, some not so - are well-written and feel genuine rather than forced to create a happy ending.

I will warn you, that there are a few moments that are blatantly put in for the adults, but blended in well enough for the kids not to notice.  Well, except for the scene where Jack straight-up shoots a guy just to get his hotel room.  That might have been a tad over-the-top.

All in all, though, it was well-animated, well-written, and well-voiced.  Having all three in one animated movie is rare these days, where you're lucky to get one, let alone two, of these things.

The characters are deep and believable.  Through flashback and interaction we can tell these are more than just storybook characters with slapped-on backstories.  They are full, rich, and genuine.  Puss steals the show - I know he's the title character; that's how amazing a job was done on him - Kitty was more than just a backdrop female, Humpty was well-done, Jack and Jill, although their roles were relatively short-lived, were able to present both their gruff exterior and a hint at a softer side (talk about a role reversal...), and the supporting cast were all well-placed and added to the story without distracting.

The animation was top-notch all the way.  It made you believe that a world where humans interacted with anthropomorphic cats and walking eggs was plausible.  The action scenes flowed beautifully and drew you in without going over the top with the BOOMAMAZINGGRAPHICS type of CGI that takes you out of the story.

As stated, the voice acting was well-done, the actors had amazing chemistry, and were intense without being over the top.

...and that's why I think this movie is great: it's a ridiculous idea: storybook characters living "real" lives, intermingling the human world with the fairy-tale world seamlessly.  This could have been an idea that was played for laughs and a wink and a nod.  This movie made this combination seem not only possible, but believable.  It took itself seriously, but not too seriously.  And that's why it works.

Highly-recommended.  Go see it when you can.

As a side note: I did not see it in 3D, because I wear glasses, and the glasses-on-top-of-glasses look is not, and has never been, in.

I hope you enjoyed reading this.  See you on the next page!