Puss in Boots

Whether in television or movies, spin-offs can be a tricky proposition. The idea is to give viewers enough of the familiar material that made the spun-off character so popular in the first place, while introducing a new world to avoid simply rehashing old adventures.

When it comes to Puss in Boots, a 3D animated spin-off of the popular Spanish feline character from three of the four Shrek movies, the filmmakers find a moderate amount of success in both areas.

In fact, there’s a certain amount of audacity to the level in which the creators of Puss in Boots trust their title character to make the transition from comic sidekick to action hero.

Shrek, Donkey and the rest of the Far Far Away gang aren’t seen or even mentioned, leaving the only recycled elements to the new film the character of Puss himself — whose cute exterior masks a devious sense of tough-guy mischief — and the concept of using disparate fairy-tale characters to round out the supporting cast.

The result is a film with plenty of kid-friendly action and colorful characters, even if the script is lacking some of the witty pop-culture humor that made the first couple of installments in the Shrek series such a delight.

The film tells the back story of Puss (voiced by Antonio Banderas), who was raised in a group home with an awkward outcast named Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis). They eventually grow apart, but reunite to team with flirtatious feline Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) in a perilous scheme involving a beanstalk and a goose that lays coveted golden eggs.

Director Chris Miller (co-director of Shrek the Third) keeps the pace lively and the action plentiful, never missing an opportunity to tease viewers with 3D close-ups.

The story and the jokes are more hit-and-miss as the script provides more smiles than laughs, especially for adults. One highlight is an extended dance sequence near the beginning that takes place inside a cat-operated nightclub.

The animation is top-notch throughout, and Banderas seems to have fun revisiting the title character. Perhaps most importantly it doesn’t wear out its welcome at feature length. It turns out Puss in Boots deserved to take center stage, after all.

Rated PG, 90 minutes.