Puss in Boots

Directed by Chris Miller

(PG)

***

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The final Shrek sequel was such a “tired, lifeless” affair that you may not expect much from this spin-off, said Bill Goodykoontz in The Arizona Republic. Instead, it’s a “surprisingly delightful adventure romp” that brings back the “smart humor” of the first Shrek. Antonio Banderas voices the sword-fighting Puss as he teams up with Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) and an alluring cat burglar (Salma Hayek) in a bid to outwit the evil Jack and Jill and swipe the goose that laid the golden egg. The film “doesn’t break any new ground in the storytelling department,” and the onslaught of action sequences “grows wearying by the end,” said Ty Burr in The Boston Globe. But Puss “has a devilish wit that works for parent and child alike,” and when the comedy clicks, it “approaches the rarefied realm of a classic Warner Bros. Looney Tunes.” Meanwhile, the writers use Banderas’s “Corinthian leather purr” to great effect, said Roger Moore in the Orlando Sentinel. The actor puts “swagger in every line,” and even kids will get the joke of “a voice that sensual and grand coming out of a kitty so small.”