“PUSS” FINDS NEW LIFE

PUSS IN BOOTS
Starring (the voices of)
Antonio Banderas,
Salma Hayek,
Zach Galifianakis,
Billy Bob Thornton,
Amy Sedaris,
Constance Marie,
Guillermo del Toro
Directed by Chris Miller
Written by Charles Perrault, Brian Lynch, David H. Steinberg,
Tom Wheeler, Jon Zack
Running time 90 mins.
Rated PG

Most enjoyable.
Littered with cat jokes, “Puss in Boots” fills the void left by the absence of Shrek—the Shrek franchise having ostensibly ended last year.
In keeping with the brand, “Puss” features twisted takes on fairytale characters. This time, Puss in Boots (Banderas) meets up with his old pal Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis), and together they search for the magic beans that will make the beanstalk that will lead them to the golden eggs. Meanwhile, a mysterious black-clad cat (Hayek) is doing the same thing.
Even meaner-while, Jack and Jill (Thornton, Sedaris) ride around in a hog-drawn coach causing general mayhem, Jack having never been the same after that bad spill he took climbing up a hill.
The multiple filmmakers behind the four Shreks and this one have the comedy down to a science. Warped versions of sugarplum people is of course hugely appealing. The real versions of the fairytale folk are deceitful and leer.
As Humpty Dumpty, Zach Galifianakis provides the perfect voice. If you’ve ever seen “The Hangover” or its sequel, you’ll have a sense of the deceptive sweetness of which he is supremely capable.
In flashback we learn of Puss’s kittenhood at the orphanage where he met little Humpty. Some hilarious back story there. Much of the story is spent, predictably enough however, on the romantic relationship possibilities of the two leading kitties. In this respect, it’s a lot like an animated version of Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in the most recent “Pirates” movie.
At one point, Puss walks into a bar. All the grown, slovenly men cruelly taunt the kitty. They laugh. Even pull away his bar stool, leaving him hanging by his little kitty elbows on the counter. Unperturbed, the lover, the fighter, sips his leche with darting tongue….
It’s good fun.