Puss N Boots (2011)

In this prequel to Shrek, we learn how Puss N Boots (Antonio Banderas) got his swash-bucking, dashing ways.  The feline was wrongly accused of a crime that was orchestrated by his former best pal, Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), and he had to go on the run.  A chance encounter with a thief named Kitty Softpaws (Selma Hayek) puts him in touch again with his former friend.  Humpty convinces Puss N Boots to go in with him and Kitty on a scheme to steal magic beans from outlaws Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris).  The goal:  find the Golden Goose and get some golden eggs.

I never got into Shrek (2001). . .I didn't think it was very funny.  But I always liked the Puss N Boots character, a rascal with swagger.  Banderas infuses the character with a lot of charm.  The animation is good; I liked the various details of the town Puss and Humpty came from, and I liked how Humpty's expressions were drawn.  The jokes and sight gags are the usual for 21st century animated movies.  Most are aimed at the kids, while a few are for the adults.  One character gushes about Puss' boots, stating they are made from "Corinthian leather".  I seemed to be the only one in the theater who got that joke.  Back in the 1970's, actor Ricardo Montalban did a series of car commercials where he pointed out the "Corinthian leather" of the car's seats.  I must have been older than everyone else in the audience for that showing.  The playing around with nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters was clever.