'Puss in Boots' lands with 'Shrek-y' puns

He’s only 2 feet tall and he wears high heels, but Puss is set to emerge as one of the great lovers of the year. Shrek’s bad kitty gets his own movie and it is, in fact, enough to make you purr.

“Puss in Boots” dares to spin “Shrek”-like puns but also has a plot. He and his sidekick, Humpty Alexander Dumpty, hope to find the magic beans that will allow them to climb the beanstalk and steal “the gold pooper” – the goose chick that lays golden eggs. Understandably piqued, Mother Goose wrecks a village in Godzilla style. Little Boy Blue is a bully and Jack and Jill are the villains.

Most alluring, though, is Kitty Softpaws, Puss’ amour. She’s been declawed, but she’s smart, purring seductively, “I know how to talk meow.” She points out, teasingly, that his heels are a bit high for a guy. Not threatened, he points out that he doesn’t always drink, but when he does, he prefers milk.

The original “Puss in Boots” was created as a French fairy tale in 1697. This version owes little or nothing to it, other than the title. Walt Disney, even before Mickey, tried two versions – one in 1922 and one in the 1980s. The present version is a spinoff prequel occurring before Puss met Shrek and Donkey in “Shrek 2” (2004).

Puss is an orphan taken in by a loving woman who expects the best of him but is brokenhearted when he’s run out of town for his involvement in a robbery.

Humpty turns out not to be a good egg. In fact, he’s a deviled egg. Before you start groaning, be aware that an otherwise mute cat hangs around the edge of the screen to throw kitty litter on puns like these. It’s a nifty trick that the DreamWorks films have used before. This may be the closest thing to burlesque-vaudeville left in show business. It is broad and it is welcome.

Antonio Banderas (so seductive) is perfect as the voice of Puss. He can perhaps carry this film the way Johnny Depp did the otherwise dismal “Pirates” franchise. Salma Hayek is Kitty Softpaws. Expressive and likable in a creepy way are the facial expressions of Humpty Dumpty (voice of Zach Galifianakis).

Regrettably, the film lacks a viable villain. Jack and Jill (voices of Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris) serve but are underused.

Henry Jackman, the composer, blends guitars and Latin percussion with music he claims was influenced by Debussy, Ravel and Manuel de Falla. Indeed, we can hear a little of each, but we don’t hear the usual song designed to be Oscar-nominated. Someone overlooked that.

The 3-D effects are refreshingly appropriate and the action is never hectic. Most impressively, the expressions of all the characters are so subtle that you forget that they are cats, or whatever.

When all else fails (and it seldom does) Puss always has those huge, dewy Disney-eyes. It worked for everything from Bambi to the Little Mermaid, and it works again here.