Ever see a movie with a friend?  Of course you have.  Share your thoughts and see if you can come to a collective agreement on what you saw, how it flowed and how good it was?  Probably every night right.  We at Geek For E call that a ‘Review In The Round’ and this week it’s Puss In Boots with Rock & Alex.

Alex: When I first heard they were doing a movie based off of one of my favorite characters in the Shrek film franchise, Puss in Boots, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for days. Puss, as voiced by Antonio Banderas, was one of the shinning moments in Shrek 2 as the dashing cat with the flair for adventure. So a movie staring this fury adventurer had to be a good idea….right?

Rock: Sounded like a good idea to me; I’ll admit I was taken aback last year when the teasers were released. My first thought was ‘could Dreamworks animation spinoff the Boots character in a funny, accessible (and non-box office greed related) manner. They succeeded. I’m still impressed with how skillful their writers are at spinning the fairy tales ideas you and I know so well into enjoyable, albeit odd, human characters. Jack and Jill married? Until I saw this film, I would have sworn they were brother and sister! And Humpty Dumpty? Wow! A maniacal, scheming egg whose only fragility is his sibling roots. The Golden Goose, Jack & The Beanstalk, have I missed any?

Alex: Rock, I think you covered all the Fairy Tale plots that went into making the story. The Characters were given life and the spoof of the Mexicana / Desperado movies helped flesh out the environment and the backdrop of the story. This helped give the movie some depth and separation from the Shrek movies as it really did make this Puss’ film.

Rock: That was always my concern, whether or not they could make ‘Puss stand on his own, and they succeeded for me. What will make this film a success won’t be the 3D, it’s going to be the allure the viewers will have with the filmmakers spin on these fairytale characters. It’s not easy to craft inventive backgrounds that are both funny and believable for a childhood lover of nursery rhyme. The film is outlandish, adventuresome, and even a bit sexy for the adults (meow…that Puss is such a ladies’ man…eer feline I mean).

Alex: I like the character of Puss but I didn’t care for the overall plot of the movie. Yes I laughed at a lot of the jokes and characters introduced in the movie. Zach Galifianakis did a great job voicing Humpty Dumpty and helped making him the bad egg he is. There are tons of humor in this movie and if you are a fan of cats, or like cats, or know someone that has a cat, or has even seen a cat (phew….) you will enjoy the subtle and not-so-subtle humor involved with how the cats are portrayed. The big dance number had me laughing in my seat at how accurate the writers were when it came to things that cats do…and yeah, it was quite funny too. But the overall plot of the movie, searching for Jack’s magic beans and the subplot of Puss falling in love with Kitty Softpaws who was voiced by Salma Hayek, just left me flat. For some reason this plot didn’t move me or make me want to cheer on the “good-guys” at all.

Rock: I hear you buddy.  It’s tough to morph fairy tales into more than just interesting characters – the dang plot always gets in the way.  I did take issue with the town people all getting golden eggs – didn’t anybody think of how invaluable golden eggs would be if everybody had one?  But that’s the adult in me coming out, kids won’t look that deep and that’s how this film will succeed.  By succeed, I mean $100M minimum in its run.  It’s not just the 3D and the kid angle, it’s how they gave adults something to enjoy too.   How many kids will have a clue what glaucoma is?, and how many of them are going to immediately turn to Mommy and Daddy and ask them why they’re laughing at it.  It’s an all-around feel good family movie with something for everybody.  Oh yeah – on Galifianakis…I didn’t stare at the marquees while watching the early trailers, and never took notice of his name.  The entire film, I thought I was hearing Patton Oswalt’s voice.  It wasn’t until the credits rolled that I knew it was funnyman Zach as Humpty Alexander Dumpty.  ‘Alexander?’ geez, how funny is that?

Alex: Dreamworks will have a hit with Puss in Boots on the name recognition alone. Even if some things fall flat, overall it is a fun, family movie with great characters. I give Puss in Boots 3 out of 5 stars.