My Movie Review on Puss in Boots (2011) · 10:39pm May 4th, 2020
Aloha, my amigos!
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, I’m gonna give you guys my take of Dreamworks’s “Puss in Boots”.
Here’s the summary of this tale:
Puss in Boots is a feline outlaw who has been on the run for a crime he didn’t commit.
Looking for a way to clear his name, Puss learns that a couple of murderous outlaws, Jack and Jill, have acquired magic beans. If planted in the right spot, the beans will grow a beanstalk that will directly lead to the castle of a giant, where a golden goose that lays golden eggs is being kept.
After realizing he can’t achieve his score by himself, though, Puss has no choice but to team up with the charming Kitty Softpaws. And not just her, but Humpty-Dumpty, who was the reason for why Puss has become so infamous.
Will the trio ever get the beans from Jack and Jill and find the golden goose? Or is this a lost cause?
What’s more, will Puss and Humpty put the past behind them and become the brothers they used to be?
After I finished reviewing the Shrek film series, I knew that doing an analysis on the 2011 Puss in Boots movie was always going to be a top priority until I did it. I just had to decipher the right time for it, which would be not so long after analyzing “Shrek Forever After”, but at the same time...not immediately after that either.
Watching this movie again after so long, the one Achilles heel I was able to pinpoint was that the film felt noticeably fast despite having a 90 minute runtime. I just think that the film was making itself too quickly straightforward in some ways and wished that it was a little longer somehow, that’s all.
Other than that, this movie provided quite an enjoyable and worthwhile ride.
For instance, the direction by Chris Miller, the screenplay by Tom Wheeler, and the story by Wheeler, Brian Lynch, and Will Davies were extremely well-done. Among the many things I couldn’t help but note was that they managed to get the film to live up to the Dreamworks reputation in terms of the humorous style, because the film was so unexpectedly witty and funny that it’s hard not to laugh. The amount of emotion and heart it had, which came from the relationships Puss had with Kitty and Humpty, were surprisingly well-worked and powerful, and I found my soul consistently tugged on. Having read so much about Guillermo del Toro’s involvement as executive producer, I can definitely tell he was all into this project. I particularly admired how he was able to strengthen the film’s emotional core. The film’s use of multiple camera shots for one single moment helped the film be deeply unique, and they were fun too.
The animation was astonishing, if I may add. As I watched the movie, I found that it not only had the same visual style as Shrek, but...it managed to expand itself and be something of its own too. Aided by surprisingly lovely cinematography, the film had a vibe of comic and storybook visuals combined together.
The music by Henry Jackman was marvelous as well. Jackman is no Harry-Gregson Williams, but it was nice to see Dreamworks changing things up by bringing in a different composer. The thing I enjoyed the most about Jackman’s melodies was that they carried a feeling of pure Spanish, which was at a level that was incredibly cinematic. The film’s incorporation and use of Lady Gaga’s “Americano” was unexpectedly entertaining, and while it may have been an unusual choice of song in the long run, it was surprisingly fitting.
Finally, the performances of the cast, characters, and character development were fantastic.
Out of all the performers, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Zach Galifianakis gave the best vocal performances in their portrayals of Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, and Humpty-Dumpty. Their characters as a whole also had amazing development and brimmed with personality, and the chemistries between them were entertaining and carried brilliant spark.
In conclusion, “Puss in Boots” may be a little too quick, but it’s charming, fun, and it holds a great amount of passion and thought to make it something worth creating. Puss in Boots was definitely a perfect character for Dreamworks to make a spin-off for, that’s for sure.
So, I rate “Puss in Boots” 4½ out of 5 stars.
To Dreamworks: I encourage you highly to forward your plans to make a sequel or more. I’m particularly interested in you exploring how and why Puss got to where he was in “Shrek 2”, and I would love to see Kitty Softpaws make more appearances in the future, as she definitely deserves more than just one.
Always loved that movie.
not interested in seeing it. sorry.
I watched this movie when I was younger, and I didn't give any thoughts about it yet.
This movie had me both happy and sad at many many points
If there was one thing I did like about the Shrek movies was the fact we got Pussy in Boots. I was never a huge fan of shrek myself, but the movies were alright. I did like the more serious tone of Pussy in Boots, if you can call it that. ^^;
His backstory into his life with Humpty and how it all ties into him being an outlaw because of his so called "brother". It was as much a story of redemption as it was comedic adventure, and I loved it. Sad we never got the sequel movie. D: