TMG Scale 7.0 P Factor 0.0 MPAA Rating: PG
Starring the voices of Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thorton
Right off paw (as opposed to “off hand” ) I should note the title means a cat, literally in boots. I suppose that is obvious to most. But when I asked most adults it conjured up everything from cat food to a Saturday morning cartoon. But not a cat musketeer. This film is actually, but only very loosely, based upon the fairy tale Puss n Boots written at the close of the seventeenth century by Frenchman Charles Perrault (1628–1703). This film is sort of the 2011, The Three Musketeers film for children, only much better.
This film version blends a story of child hood pals Puss in Boots (Banderas) and egghead, Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis) in pursuit of selfish dreams to capture the baby goose that lays golden eggs. Puss falls for Kitty Softpaws (Hayek) and the friendships between Puss, Humpty and Kitty all get a bit confused in pursuit of riches. The writers mix in (and mix up) bits of half a dozen other childhood fables from Jack and Jill to Jack and the Beanstalk. It is all clean great fun and funny for kids and adults along the way. There is a great fight and dance scene that few animated films can match. The PG rating was certainly garnered by the swords and violence, but there is really nothing to disturb even the most delicate of children’s emotions. Any child old enough to watch television has seen far worse. My only concern was a brief reference by Jack to swearing off “murdering and thievery” as fun, but it may be time to move on. They might have left that worthless line out of the script. And why Jack and Jill had to be portrayed as anything but two nice kids going up a hill to fetch a pale of water might confuse a few kindergartners.
The hoopla over the new 3D in films is really reserved for animated films like this. The 3D is truly amazing with animation while it adds little and is not nearly as impressive with most films. For animation, it is here to stay. Seeing a cat drink milk from a regular glass is funny and watching milk get spilt in slow 3D is captivating. Watch for the funny reference later in the film to “catnip for glaucoma”–an obvious cross reference to a funny scene of Galifianakis in last year’s Due Date. Puss “in” boots or out of them, adults and kids alike will laugh and enjoy this adventure all the way through.