“Puss in Boots” Movie Review

Originally a French literary fairy tale, “Puss in Boots” is about a cat who uses his cleverness and wit to gain power and riches for his master.   After requesting and acquiring a pair of boots, the cat is determined to make his master his fortune.  The formulaic storyline has the cat presenting gifts for the King in his master’s favor, under the fictional name of the Marquis of Carabas until one outing the cat is able to win his master the heart of a princess.  If the moral of the fairy tale is based on the benefits of dress and countenance to turn things in your favor, then DreamWorks’ version of Puss in Boots is able to land right on its feet based on that premise.

With a suave persona and an air of dashing debonair, the cat in Puss in Boots owns his swashbuckling attire.  From the opening scene and on, Puss in Boots is sleek, purposeful, and filled with satire.

Though the Puss in Boots reference to the French fairy tale can not be ignored, DreamWorks’ Puss in Boots is pretty much his own cat.  From the get-go, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) is able to get himself out of several sticky situations through the power of charm – in this case, the boots make the cat, since cat lovers everywhere are won over by a puss wearing boots – or else as a default, he banks on his appeal as an adorable kitty.

Puss in Boots meets his female counterpart in Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), who leads him to his long lost blood-brother, Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis).  With a grandiose plan intact under the mastermind of the infamous fairytale egg, Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws are on their way to wrest from the murderous outlaws, Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris), the magic beans in order to gain the riches promised in folklore.  In doing so, Puss in Boots will find himself struggling with past mistakes and betrayals before he is able to undertake the giant in the sky and the goose who lays the golden eggs.  But, of course: who will be the one to get to the “gold-pooper” first – something you’d have to watch and find out for yourself.

Puss in Boots holds up very well under its own banner.  Originally a popular character from the Shrek movies, Puss in Boots is the prequel before the cat happens to meet the Shrek characters.  But unless the producers rewrite the entire Shrek series, a Puss in Boots sequel seems to be too out of reach to make the storylines of both movies plausible – which is quite regrettable since Puss in Boots is a great family movie that kids and adults alike will enjoy and would probably love to see continue.

Its imaginative plot, unforgettable cast of characters, and hilarious catch-phrases may alone suffice, but add in its delicious one-liners and insane fairy-tale references and you got an enjoyable animated film that will have everyone repeating the jokes with gusto and without fail.

Photo Courtesy of www.orangemagazinetv.com via Flickr