Puss in Boots (2011) - Catty spin-off has issues

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The titular cat and a wealth of other fantastical elements attract on this poster for Chris Miller's Puss in Boots

Puss is a feared, sword-carrying cat who meets a thrilling female cat and reunites with his old friend Humpty Dumpty for an adventure for the magic beans that lead to the golden goose!

 

Puss in Boots is written by Tom Wheeler (Empire (2005, miniseries)), with William Davies (Flushed Away (2006)) and Brian Lynch (Hop (2011)) contributing story elements, and directed by Chris Miller (Shrek the Third (2007)). It is a spin-off of the Shrek franchise (2001; 2004; 2007; 2010). It has its basis in the same-titled, 16th century European folk fairytale.

The film begins with energy and fun for a time, with cat characters and adult concepts intermingling in a colorful family package (not unlike in the Shrek movies), but later the film runs out of juice, as the Puss/Dumpty relationship that's meant to carry the film, simply isn't strong enough or exciting enough to do so. That leaves one sighing for other characters, - or, even worse, reminiscing about how much fun those first two Shrek movies were. 

The animation here is handsome; there's lots of action, but Puss doesn't impress one as a great character in Puss in Boots. 

 

Related posts:

Shrek franchise: Shrek the Third (2007) - Declined quality but still loads of fun to be had with third Shrek (also by Miller)

Shrek 2 (2004) - Fun and adventure reign in tremendous family animation romp 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 130 mil. $

Box office: 554.9 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.26 times its cost)

[Puss in Boots premiered 23 October (Austin Film Festival) and runs 90 minutes. Originally envisioned as a video release, the film was elevated to a theatrical release. Production took place in the US and India. It opened #1 to a 34 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend at #1 and then 2 more in the top 5 (#3-#5), grossing 149.2 mil. $ (26.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 50.5 mil. $ (9.1 %) and Germany with 34 mil. $ (6.1 %). It was the year's 3rd highest-grossing animated film, behind Kung Fu Panda 2 and Cars 2. The film was nominated for the Best Animation Oscar, lost to Rango. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, among other honors. The film additionally made in excess of 70.4 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. The character returned in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022). Miller has not returned as a director since. Antonio Banderas (The Body (2001)) returned in Day of the Falcon/Black Gold (2011) and also returned to voice Puss in the 2022 sequel. Puss in Boots is certified fresh at 86 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Puss in Boots?