Feb 11: Puss in Boots

"A story about the events leading up to the sword fighting cat's meeting with Shrek and his friends."

   Puss in Boots is another unnecessary entry in the now overdone and overplayed Shrek franchise. Yet, Puss in Boots has really no references to the Shrek films. Sure, it's a prequel and he has not met the ogre and his ass of a friend, but there are no mentions of Far Far Away and very very little "fairy tale" elements. The whole film does not pinpoint an exact setting, but feels like it's actually in Mexico. Head to Cancun, talk to that strange looking man in the corner at the bar, and he'll give you what's apparently needed to get to the land of Shrek.

Mr. Franco has spent his fair amount of time in "Far Far Away"

   As a stand alone film, Puss in Boots is just a decent animated movie. It does have a handful of pretty well done action sequences and the visuals are great, but the story is lacking and the actually funny bits are few and far between. So much of the story feels forced and unnecessary. I never wondered how Puss got his boots or where he came from. I just don't care and Puss in Boots didn't help with that fact. It lacks the magic and imagination that great animated movies have, and because of that, it quite frankly feels like it should have been a straight to DVD release (and not nominated for an Oscar like it is). 

Enjoyed here, but not for $10 in a grown up theater. 

    Overall, Puss in Boots could have been a lot better... wait never mind. Anything to do with the Shrek universe needs to stop. Forever. If you want to see how to rape a franchise for everything it's worth, pop in Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After (Not to mention all of the TV Christmas specials and shorts added to DVD bundles). Puss in Boots is just another rape attempt (bad kitty) and Dreamworks needs to learn to let things die so we, as a movie-going audience, can live happily ever after (wink wink). 

The Good:

Great visuals and action sequences

The Bad:

Recycled familiarity but misplaced in misfit setting and it doesn't work

The Ugly:

Everything is just so bland and feels forced, it's ugly because it's nothing special

Overall: 5.0/10

Best Quote:

Kitten Puss trying to hiss. Cute and funny. 

Watch This Instead:

Spirited Away- animation done in the most perfect way

Lion King- the right way to tell the story of a cat

Anything with the Muppets- they know how to blend kid and adult humor

Or you could always get paper and pencils and probably draw something up more creative than Puss in Boots.

P.S. Listening to the handful of votes on the poll I posted and working on my first Top 10 (or 8?) list. Should be posting soon.