Film review: Puss in boots - dog days are over

Directed by Chris Miller (Shrek the Third), Puss in Boots, an animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation, is a spinoff prequel to the Shrek franchise. This movie is, in many ways, like an adorable feline which rubs against your legs, purrs in your lap, and generally fills you with the warm fuzzies. If you’re not bowled over by its charm, you could also call it over-cute.

Voiced by Antonio Banderas in the titular role, the film is about the magical adventure of Puss when he was a sword fighting hero, before he met Shrek and Donkey in Shrek 2. Things start with Puss stealing the legendary magic beans from the grown up fairy tale characters, Jack (Billy Bob Thorton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris), so that he can raise the beanstalk to climb to the ogre’s castle, and steal the goose that lays golden eggs. Along the way, he is assisted by the alluring cat Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), and his old childhood friend, Humpty ‘Alexander’ Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), with whom he has some friction.

While the voice acting in the film is excellent overall, Antonia Banderas’ performance is particularly good: full of zest, it really brings Puss to Life. Of course, it isn’t just the voice acting, but the characterisation that makes all the main characters so memorable. The film is cleverly written, and cat lovers will be delighted with the jokes and puns that abound.

The only problem with the film is that it ends with an uncreative and unnecessarily heavy bang, an issue consistent with DreamWorks films. It seems that the studio feels the best way to end a film is to up the ante on the razzle dazzle, without offering anything interesting or clever. Having said that, overall, the film looks really good, with the animation being excellent and striking. Some of the visual direction is quite creative, featuring some interesting split screen effects. The movie features amazing CGI sequences and the 3D effects are also quite good, making Puss in Boots delightful, even to those who prefer dogs.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, November 20^th,  2011.