The cat with the boots
After having literally made all lovers of "Shrek" fall in love, thanks to the deep voice and the fascinating Spanish accent (even that of Antonio Banderas, in the original language version as in the previous films, but for the first time also in the language version Italian) and the classic behavior of a cat with sweet eyes, Puss in Boots finally has a movie of its own, out in cinemas from December 16, 2011.
History
Spin-off of the beloved saga of the ogre, Donkey, and the delightful and ramshackle band of fairy tale characters, "Puss in Boots" stars the feline D'Artagnan from the first four films, but goes back in time , before the meeting of the elegant feline with Shrek, delving into his past, when, young perennially on the hunt for romantic adventures and always in the midst of trouble, our hero enters a saloon to ask for a milk and comes out with the new awareness that magic beans are a reality and that, to be exact, they are in the hands of two notorious criminals in the area.
Of course, Gatto will immediately decide to go on the trail of the two criminals to snatch their precious treasure, but the adventure will not prove as simple as it seemed. Suddenly, in fact, Gatto will find himself dealing with Uovo, an old friend who in the past had already betrayed his trust, and who proposes, together with the charming and winking cat Kitty Velvet Paws, to help him recover the booty. But can we really trust him? And will Gatto find himself in the end with his precious treasure and a rediscovered friend, or will he be disappointed for the second time?
The film is really funny, and the ninety minutes fly by in a flash, especially for the little ones, to whom the film is really aimed: unlike the saga of Shrek, in fact, "Puss in Boots" is openly addressed to a childish audience, and for this reason completely devoid of lines with a double reading, of which the first films were dotted. At the same time, even this time there is no lack of cinematographic citations, which conquer the greatest, or at least all those able to recognize the classic "Zorro" or "The Three Musketeers", for a result that puts the whole family in agreement for a fun cinematic afternoon.
Precisely because it is aimed at a children's audience, however, the film lacks a bit of insights into the characters, which remain quite two-dimensional instead of being described in the round, an in-depth study that is actually more suited to a film aimed at an adult audience.
Nonetheless, Chris Miller, director of the film, all in all manages not to make the protagonists lose verve and vivacity: the Cat is exactly what we remember from the first films, charming and clumsy, romantic and braggart, excellent swordsman and incurable casanova, loyal to friends and always ready to jump into the fray ... but at the same time trying to risk as little as possible.
In short, Gatto, although for the first time the protagonist, is always the same, as are his big eyes, who often and willingly get him out of trouble.
Kitty Cat Paws Velvet
But this time there is a very worthy kitten as his shoulder.
Kitty Zampe di Velluto, sinuous and fascinating, in the original language has the sensual and hot voice of Salma Hayek, which is saying something: the bewitching kitten has all the skills to make our hero literally lose his head, but at the same time up to in the end one wonders if and how he will behave towards Gatto, a swaying question mark that accompanies the audience to the end credits. On the other hand, it is no coincidence that Kitty Zampe di Velluto appears in the film with Humpty Dumpty, the Egg, a former friend of Gatto, voiced by Zach Galifianakis, who in turn is not a little ambiguous: especially after the explanatory flashback that comes around half of the film and which explains why our protagonist finds it hard to trust his friend so much, we are very doubtful about what this strange and very particular character will do in the end, indeed, in some points we are almost sure that he will betray Gatto when not he expects it to disappear with the much desired magic beans. But it's also true that in a children's film the message of friendship and loyalty can't be missing, so the ending actually becomes pretty predictable soon.
The two criminals are hilarious: just think that in the original language the voice of Jack is even that of Billy Bob Thornton, and listening to him, even in this part, one cannot help but think of the character of "Santa Bastard".
The 3D technique
Meanwhile, the wicked Jill is voiced by actress Amy Sedaris.
Really exceptional cast, in short, especially if you think that Mustache Man is even played by Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro, who unexpectedly lends him his Latin voice.
La DreamWorks, therefore, he definitely staked a lot on this spin - off (perhaps also to make the cinema world forget the mega flop of the fourth, unfortunate, episode of Shrek) as can be seen not only from the amount spent on the cast of the film, but also from the very expensive, as well as new, techniques used: "Puss in Boots", in fact, is in 3D, which makes it particularly fun in the chases and in the fastest moments of the film.
The spectators, in fact, are able to enjoy, thanks to the goggles, the most daring adventures of Gatto, and above all the little ones will find it fun to immerse themselves in the film and in the Spanish land in which the Cat moves, thanks to the technique with which they are experimenting. one by one all the greats of cinema. Furthermore, in particular the central scenes of the film, such as the chase, worthy of a real action movie, make it much more thanks to 3D, managing to completely involve the spectators, large and small they are. Just as 3D manages to point out even more how perfect the graphics are, something in which DreamWorks has always been a master: the landscapes of the film, as in the previous adventures of Shrek, very often seem like real postcards instead of drawings.
The judgment on the film
Despite the shortcomings, in short, the film really stands as an excellent pre-Christmas film, in an early winter that invites you to spend the afternoons in the heat of a cinema, and you must acknowledge the director Chris Miller of having succeeded in an all summed up not simple: having brought to the center of the scene a character who until now had always behaved as a pure and simple shoulder, without flattening it too much in the image that of the Puss in Boots is seen in the previous films.
A character actor can hardly hold up the leading role, unless the direction of the film is excellent: and Miller succeeds perfectly in his intent, transforming a character who is always little known, and only as pure and simple speck in the course of the adventures of the ogre Shrek, in a protagonist with a past, with memories and with a great vital charge, despite the fact that he is aimed at an audience of children and must therefore remain superficial. What Miller fails, however, is in creating the Cat an entourage as excellent as that of the protagonist of the previous films: if the luck of all Shrek's films is partly due to the perfect and hilarious combination of the various characters and the relationships between them. they (first of all Donkey), the Cat does not enjoy companions at his height.
The Egg itself and Kitty Velvet Paws are too two-dimensional even for a cartoon for children and they cannot stand up to the comparison with the funny protagonist in any way: at the end of the film, no matter how amused, we will never be fond of them as for a Pan di Zucchero, Ciuchino and Fiona from the first films. In fact, what makes Shrek's first episode especially unique is the group of inhabitants of the world of fairy tales, reread in a hilarious way: the little pigs, perfectly dubbed with a German accent, or the wolf disguised as a grandmother, but with an unmistakable voice. All this in "Puss in Boots" is completely lost.
But, surprised surprise, in spite of what one might think, the Cat manages to stand alone most of the film, dragging the spectators into his adventures, in a sort of Spanish west in which he moves carelessly and confidently, if also always with the clumsy note that always makes you fall in love with this soft and hairy character.
What is surprising is how much children are kidnapped by the film: as already mentioned, the film is aimed at a mainly, if not exclusively childish audience, who enjoys the film from the first scene to the last, laughing and having fun, with the safety of children. parents for a film in which there is no risk of jokes that can be misunderstood by the little ones, or of scenes that cannot be fully understood.
And this is certainly a great merit for "Puss in Boots": the fact that it is finally a film for children, with which you are really comfortable taking your children to the cinema, which is not always possible, definitely makes it deserving.
In fact, there are many animated films presented for children that actually contain scenes that can easily scare them.
Just think of real Disney masterpieces, which, however, offered to children at unsuitable times, almost risk terrifying them. In this regard, the scene of the transformation of the stepmother into a witch in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs": although the film is considered viewable from the age of three, the scene in question regularly scares even older children, who refuse, after the first viewing, to see the film for a long time. Or the terrible voice of the fairy in the much more recent "Rapunzel".
In "Puss in Boots, on the other hand, this risk just isn't there, on the contrary: even the little ones have fun, and will be able to see the film, once released in DVD format, even alone, without the risk of getting scared or get confused, and this is no small thing. www.cartonionline.com
