Reviewed by Alicia Glass

Studio: Dreamworks Animations

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: Chris Miller

Review Rating: 7

The origin story of how the feline hero earned his stylish paw-wear, including brother Humpty Dumpty and the Beanstalk in the sky!

So, we all enjoy the Shrek movies and how they make fun of the whole fairy tale world and stories. And while Puss in Boots certainly carries on that tradition, or tries to, most of the story isn’t exactly set in a fairy-tale world, but rather in the origin town ofSan Ricardo, where Puss and Humpty grew up together in an orphanage.

So yes, Humpty is an egg with big dreams. He wants to find those magic beans, climb the beanstalk and nab the goose that lays the golden eggs. All more or less, to get the heck out of San Ricardo and make a big name for himself. And of course, Puss needs to come along! They do the blood-brothers thing, and while Humpty is making his huge plans, Puss is becoming the hero we all know him to be. Puss saves a beloved town mother and earns his boots, Humptys’ left by the wayside. Now it’s later, Puss is back in San Ricardo chasing Jack and Jill like you’ve never seen them, who purportedly have those magic beans everyone’s been looking for. Puss just has to take up with the master thief in black, who can almost out-dance him, whom of course turns out to be Kitty Soft-Paws, female cat burglar. And everyone’s after the beans, the goose, and those golden eggs.

Kitty, Puss and Humpty all manage to get the darn beans, climb the beanstalk and nab a chick, and are showered by golden eggs as a result. What they don’t realize, or Puss doesn’t anyway, is that there’s a Momma goose, and she’s the size of a house and enraged to boot! Humpty on the other hand is all for the destruction of San Ricardo, cuz yknow at this point he’s a bitter little rotten egg. It’s up to Puss and a chastened Kitty Soft-Paws to save the day!

It’s fun and amusing in an almost self-depreciating way. They tried to include a fair amount of adult-ish humor, while keeping the constant movement and swashbuckling to keep the kiddies interested. It works, for the most part, in a very early Zorro kind of way. Which is also amusing, because Antonio Banderas as the voice of Puss has also played Zorro in the two modern retake movies.