Jynks

I was unreasonably excited to see this film. Luckily, I have kids and nephews and nieces, so I had ample excuses to see this movie “because the kids may like it”. I think a lot of the reason I was so keen to see this film is that I am a cat owner and have been for my entire life. As in my first cat died at 22 when I was 14, so literally the entire time I have been alive I've lived with and loved cats.

It has always bugged me that, Hollywood especially, always casts cats in films as bad guys or mean and snobbish. It is a strange cliché in most American films as cats are a hugely popular and beloved pet. The perception of them as evil, snarky beasts is really not how most people see them, particularly cat owners. It seems so strange to me that Hollywood does not embrace the cat more as a heroic protagonist for that would appeal to literally millions and millions of people all across the globe. Also, if the internet has taught us anything, cats are really photogenic and expressive to look at.

Anyway, this movie is a real step in the right direction for children's movies, reminding me of the glory days of Pixar. Back when Pixar films could make you cry and laugh in the same movie. Dreamworks has outdone themselves here in producing a kids film that is funny, exciting, scary and relatively deep in its themes and messages.

The core of this film is about life. What makes life worth living? How does one live a full life? What makes someone truly happy? What is important? These type of questions are framed through the fear of death. Now these are heavy ideas, but kids are smarter and more interested in the world around them than many adults give them credit for. IMO, kids shouldn't be hidden from things. It does not protect them, it cripples them for life.

So while the ideas in this film are heavy in relation to the kind of light smultch coming from Disney recently, and it does have a genuinely terrifying villain. It is still an excellent kids' story.

I do think this film is a little unsure of who it is made for. There is some bad language in this movie. All of it is beeped out in some way, and in literally you hear beep sounds over swearing and others instances are stopped midword.. like “Bullshit” is just “Bull..”, stuff like that. Still, this seems like a symptom of the same thing Toy Story had “issues” with. Shrek is 21 years ago. The kids that saw that are now parents or grandparents. It is not a bad idea to cater to children, but also make sure that the Parents have fun and cater to their sensibilities as well. While I like the deeper meanings in this film and I also think it is about time kids got an actual scary villain for a change, I think the swearing was kinda out of place and makes the film unsuitable for many parents and puts the move into the range of teenagers more than kids. To be clear, this is a non-issue for me, but I can see why some parents may have an issue with the language.

Still, despite a few rocks this is a fantastic film from start to finish. The animation is detailed and gorgeous. I'm not a huge fan of the jerky animation. I used to do 3D Animation for a living and do not be fooled. That animation style is simply done to reduce the cost of rendering as you render less frames. Which is why it is only used in the combat sequences. Even so, despite this artistic / economic choice, the film is really just fantastic looking. The expressions and details in the sets are amazing. Also, as an x-animator the power of modern lighting in these renderers is just astounding.

My only other gripe is that I would have liked Kitty Softpaws to be a more rounded character. Kitty is better at everything than anyone else in the movie, more fearless and smarter. Never makes mistakes and is basically perfect. While Puss spends most of his time doing slapstick comedy. I mean the film still works and there is a plot through line about Puss loosing confidence through fear, but even so, Kitty has no arc of any kind. Making her feel flat and uninteresting. Every other character besides Jack Horner has an arc. Jack btw, doesn't have an arc by design. This is part of the thematics of the over arch plot and metaphoric meanings of the movie. His lack of an arc is used as a counterpoint to the main villain, Wolf. So it is actually a plot point. I just think they missed a real opportunity for Kitty to experience an arc like all the other characters.

Verdict

Easily one of if not the best animated film of 2022 and one of if not the best family movie of 2022. I might have changed a few things.