Puss in Boots (02/21/2012)

Rated PG for some adventure action and mild rude humor.

Starring The voices of Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris

Directed by Chris Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Shrek the Third)

Puss in Boots may be the best spin-off since The Simpsons.

Long before he even met Shrek, the notorious fighter, lover and outlaw Puss in Boots becomes a hero when he sets off on an adventure with the tough and street smart Kitty Softpaws and the mastermind Humpty Dumpty to save his town. This is the true story of The Cat, The Myth, The Legend… The Boots.

Even though I’m a huge fan of the Shrek films, I wasn’t exactly counting down the release of Puss in Boots. I guess when you look at the long list of spin-offs, there aren’t a whole lot of success stories. And they almost never live up to the original. So while Puss in Boots is not as good as Shrek, it’s still really good.

The cast is top notch. Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Billy Bob Thornton along with a long list of Hollywood stars are all great. But I have to say that Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Dumpty is just brilliant.

I loved the story and the tension between Puss and Humpty. I loved the “love story” between Puss and Kitty Softpaws. And I loved how they were both developed without taking too much away from the fun and laughs. By the way there are plenty of laughs!!

Just like Shrek, there are some very clever lines that younger viewers will miss, but the adults will be doubled over in laughter. Lines like when a thug tells Puss the story of a giant’s land and the goose that lays the golden eggs. And he illustrates his tale by taking off his shirt and revealing tattoos of beans, a beanstalk and a goose on various parts of his body. Another thug tells him, “Show him the golden eggs”—and just before the tattooed guy can pull down his pants, Puss cries out, “No! You have shown me enough.” Come on that’s funny.

My son’s favorite part of the movie was the dancing fight scene. He couldn’t stop laughing.
Of course there are a few scenes that push the envelope like when Puss is interrupted while cleaning/licking himself and a weirdo watches and says, “don’t mind me.” And Puss’ character is “a lover, not a fighter” so early on we see him leaving another cats room implying they were “intimate.”

I really had a great time watching Puss and his friends and I think you will too…it’s Theater Worthy.

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
The biggest concern is the crude humor. So if you kept your kids away from the Shrek films, it’s probably a good idea to skip this one too.

Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):

Q: What’s the message/theme of this movie?
A: There are several great scenes and teachable moments in Puss in Boots, but there was a great scene early on that teaches a powerful and valuable lesson. As Puss is being released from jail, the jailer warns him, that he should think about the company he keeps.

Has anyone ever told you the same thing? Have you ever been asked the “If all your friends were jumping off a bridge” question?

Q: How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
A: Let’s take a quick look at 1 Corinthians 15:33. Paul writes, “Bad company corrupts good character.”

What do you think he is trying to tell us?

In the film what were some of the things that Puss did that he probably would not have done without Humpty?

Have you ever done something dumb or wrong because your friends were doing it? (Be prepared to share a personal story here).

Q: How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
A: The Bible is clear, we need to be very careful in choosing the company we keep. So how do we evaluate our friends?

(The easy solution for most parents is to just say, “I don’t want you hanging out with that kid, or that group,” but most of our children/students will reject that advise and stick even closer to the “bad influence.” So how do we help our children/students evaluate their friends? This exercise will take a very high level of honesty, but if you are willing to do it, it will be very beneficial.)

Take a sheet of paper and make three columns across the top of the paper that reads “BAD — FRIENDS — GOOD”. Then list your friends down the middle of the paper. Finally take a few moments to identify the direction your friends generally pull you in. For example if hanging out with John usually gets you in trouble, draw an arrow from his name to the left side of the paper marked bad. And if Sally is usually encouraging you to do good stuff, then draw an arrow from her name to the right side of the paper marked good.

As you look at the results you may need to revaluate how much time you spend with those who are “helping” you make bad choices.