Pussyfooting around

Director: Chris Miller,
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Billy Bob Thornton, Zach Galifianakis

Inexplicably renamed by Dreamworks Studios for its Middle East release, Cat In Boots is a slickly presented 3D spin-off to the supremely successful Shrek series that chronicles the eponymous cat’s capers before meeting everyone’s favourite Wayne Rooney lookalike.

The film is a swashbuckling ride through Cat in Boots’ (Banderas) early years as he teams up with egg-centric mastermind Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis) and the street-savvy Kitty Softpaws (Hayek) to steal the famed goose that lays the golden eggs.

There’s nothing more dispiriting than a cynical kids’ flick that trades in obvious jokes and cheap pop culture references (something the later Shrek films resorted to) but, fortunately, Cat In Boots rejects such an easy path, instead offering clever twists on classic tales, witty visual treats and spirited performances led by the enormously appealing Banderas.

Packed with exciting action, funny cat gags and eye-stabbing 3D, the end result is a fabulously funny feline frolic – in fact it’s almost Purr-fect.

Genre: Adventure | Animation | Comedy
Age Restriction: PG
Runtime: 90 min