Despite 2011 being overloaded with Animated films, only few have been that good; TANGLED 3D, KUNG FU PANDA 2 3D, CARS 2 3D, with ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D the best of all. Now that Crown has been taken off ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, as there’s a really great Animated film, and that’s PUSS-IN-BOOTS, by far the best Animated film of the year by miles and deservedly wears the Animated Crown with pride. I liked most of the SHREK films (SHREK is my less favourite) and aside from Donkey, Puss-In-Boots was and still is the best EVER character in the whole of the Shrek UNIVERSE and what luck that savvy and charismatic CAT gets than his own film and the result is never short of ‘near’ Animated perfection. The only time SHREK THE THIRD director Chris Miller loses his way with the film is the over cuteness with Puss as an orphaned kitty and the slightly annoying vocals with The Hangover and Due Date star Zach Galifianakis. But those flaws can be forgiven and overall PUSS-IN-BOOTS still ranks slightly higher than the enjoyably admirable ARTHUR CHRISTMAS. In this irresistibly entertaining Animated yarn the dashing ginger hero (flawlessly voiced by Antonia Banderas) finds romance with the mysteriously elegant Softpaws (impressively voiced by Salma Hayek) and together teams up with Puss’s ‘blood brothers’ and ex partner-in-crime Humpty ‘Alexander’ Dumpty (Galifianakis) and goes on a magical journey to find the golden goose and steals the magic beans from Fairytale Western outlaws Jack and Jill. You can’t go far wrong with an Animated film complete with lavish Fairytale details and visuals, largely borrowed by SHREK, MOTHER GOOSE style Nursery Rhymes and dazzling Sergio Leone Western landscapes to finest effect, and makes the colourful surroundings less grounded on ‘kids’ amusement and much more on their parents and adults alike, as PUSS-IN-BOOTS is less kids friendly than say HAPPY FEET 2 and way more adult oriented. Far less crude than the SHREK films there’s hardly any innuendos here, but they’re quite a few cat puns that sometimes gets old, but overall used to absolutely hilarious effect, especially the delightfully cute ‘big eyes’ gag. Back to the cuteness; Puss as a kitty is fine, but gets a bit sugary near the end, and isn’t enough to spoil the overall enjoyment. You start to warm to Humpty Dumpty as he isn’t completely a bad guy, just a guy trying to be good at heart. Puss and Softpaws shares some beautiful scenes together, as well as engaging in some arresting set pieces like the ‘dance fight’, the ‘bean stalk’ climb and jumping off bridges. A bright, breezy and energetic Animated Gem. Highly recommended.
RICK
