Director: Chris Miller
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton
Running Time: 86 minutes approx
Certificate: U
Extras:
- Puss In Boots: The Three Diablos – HD
- How To Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular – HD
- Blu-ray Exclusives: A DreamWorks Fairytale, Puss’ Paw Pouncing Challenge, The Animators’ Corner, Trivia Track
- Purr-fect Pairing: The Voices Behind the Legend, Deleted Scenes, Kitten to Cat , Glitter Box Dance Off!, Klepto Kitty, Kitty Keyboard, Fairytale Pop Up Book, Kitty Strikes Again, Previews: Madagascar 3, Puss In Boots THQ Game Trailer,, The World Of Dreamworks: Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Megamind
Not so long ago Pixar were the unequalled masters of animated cinema. Hits including FINDING NEMO (2003), THE INCREDIBLES (2004) and the TOY STORY trilogy (1995-2010) had established Uncle Walt’s division as the kings of computer-generated film; the fact Disney trusted Andrew Stanton – director of FINDING NEMO and WALL-E (2008) – with a project as big as JOHN CARTER (2012) shows the faith they have. With the SHREK series (2001-2012) and MADASGAR films (2005-) amongst others, Dreamworks have become more of a force in recent years with box-office success to back it up. Released this week on Blu-ray and DVD PUSS IN BOOTS (2011) is another slice of family entertainment that threatens Pixar’s standing.
SHREK 2 (2004) is a joyous follow up to its predecessor, having the right blend of jokes for the adults and the kids. The breakout star of the film was undoubtedly Puss In Boots (Banderas), whose scene-stealing prowess resulted in this spin off. The film follows Puss on his quest, along with old friend Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis) and new love interest Kitty Softpaws (Hayek), for magic beans that will take them to the Giant’s castle so they can kidnap the Golden Goose, all the while avoiding the villainous Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris respectively) who seek the same as our heroic trio.
No matter how you look at PUSS IN BOOTS there is one undeniable fact; the animation is extraordinary, the detail on each of the characters is quite literally jaw-dropping at points. Another huge facet of the film is the voice work and lets be honest it’s all about Banderas and his sultry Latino tones as Puss; the supporting players provide sterling efforts but it’s Banderas’ film and it sounds like he’s having a blast. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the viewer. Whilst PUSS IN BOOTS is an entertaining film; the story is solid, the characters delightful, it just isn’t very funny. Yes we get a few glances of Puss doing ‘the cat eyes’ to get his way and a couple of scenarios which result in Humpty being unable to get up, but past this jokes are few and far between. One highlight occurs upon Puss and Kitty’s first meeting where they have a dance off, made more humorous by the crowd of cats playing the music and dancing away. Sadly for genuine belly laughs this was the lot and in all honesty it felt that some of the interaction between Puss and Kitty was a bit risque for a children’s film i.e. too much allusion to sex.
Whilst PUSS IN BOOTS is an entertaining piece of animation it never hits the heights of a TOY STORY or THE INCREDIBLES and I couldn’t help walking away thinking the makers had blown a chance to take Pixar’s crown but instead the Disney funded think-tank get to hold their mantle for at least a little longer.
Extras: Not available
PUSS IN BOOTS is available now
