Welcome to Alternative to What: a weekly column that tries to find a great alternative to driving to the multiplexes. Based on releases of that week, the selections will either be thematically related or feature recurring cast and crew. The goal is to help you better understand the diversity of cinema and hopefully find you some favorites while saving a few bucks. At worse, this column will save you money. Expect each installment to come out on Fridays, unless specified.
THIS WEEK:
Puss in Boots (2011)
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Minions (2015)
We are currently in the middle of summer. That means that franchises are releasing their latest entries and the box office is being lit up with all sorts of records. While some will complain about the lack of originality, there's some room for potentially unique and interesting films. This is specifically in the realm of spin-offs. With side characters getting their own centralized movie, it means that they can take us on new and exciting adventures. Among the latest is Minions, which focuses on the major characters Minions, who have been the breakout stars of the first two Despicable Me movies. Some would even argue that in the sequel, they stole the show simply because the focus shifted to them.
While the spin-off isn't new, the animated spin-off is a modern genre that hasn't been tapped into too often. Among the better ones is Puss in Boots, which is a spin-off from the popular Shrek films. Despite the green ogre's filmography starting to become a soured pariah to general audiences, many still find a lot of merit in his side kick, Puss in Boots, who was introduced in Shrek 2. While it was initially just a play on voice actor Antonio Banderas' Zorro character, it evolved into its own zeitgeist as it embodied masculinity and the fickleness of a cat. It hit two markets, immediately making a breakout character that has even earned his own Netflix series.
Yet his first spin-off film Puss in Boots managed to do something that most other films weren't that successful at. It managed to serve as an origin story as well as flesh out the bandit character's character. With a creative mixture of characters, still playing off of the fairy tale mythos of the franchise, the film managed to feel more relevant to contemporary audiences. It wasn't a lot of crass gags and innuendos. It was now about the action and adventure. There were some spectacular set pieces in the film that reflect Dreamworks' ability to make films that are more stimulating and fun than Pixar. While content is still negotiable, their films are, to say the least, thrilling mixtures of story, creativity, and cat jokes. It crosses a market perfectly.
While the spin-off isn't new, the animated spin-off is a modern genre that hasn't been tapped into too often. Among the better ones is Puss in Boots, which is a spin-off from the popular Shrek films. Despite the green ogre's filmography starting to become a soured pariah to general audiences, many still find a lot of merit in his side kick, Puss in Boots, who was introduced in Shrek 2. While it was initially just a play on voice actor Antonio Banderas' Zorro character, it evolved into its own zeitgeist as it embodied masculinity and the fickleness of a cat. It hit two markets, immediately making a breakout character that has even earned his own Netflix series.
Yet his first spin-off film Puss in Boots managed to do something that most other films weren't that successful at. It managed to serve as an origin story as well as flesh out the bandit character's character. With a creative mixture of characters, still playing off of the fairy tale mythos of the franchise, the film managed to feel more relevant to contemporary audiences. It wasn't a lot of crass gags and innuendos. It was now about the action and adventure. There were some spectacular set pieces in the film that reflect Dreamworks' ability to make films that are more stimulating and fun than Pixar. While content is still negotiable, their films are, to say the least, thrilling mixtures of story, creativity, and cat jokes. It crosses a market perfectly.
There's still room for speculation as to what will make Minions an enjoyable, or even necessary, movie. To many, they are beloved creatures that speak gibberish. It is a notion that works as a supporting character, but is often found floundering the sooner they get to become a central character. It isn't that they can't be funny. It is simply that their lack of conventional dialogue makes it hard to find what's so endearing over the course of two hours. They are, at best, comedic follies that have to do their fair share of effort. They are crude in ways that will make it hard to fully find appreciation for.
Which is what makes Puss in Boots particularly exciting. He is already a character that is complicated and layered, at least for a children's film. He is a cat who goes on adventures. He already feels like he has a necessary side story to Shrek 2. But what exactly is it? That's the beauty to it all. The film can go anywhere, and it does. With a solid voice cast and predominantly new mix of characters, this film may as well be a reboot to the franchise, fixing any issues that many found tonally wrong with Shrek Forever After. It may still be plenty goofy, but there's something entrancing about Puss in Boots as a character. It could be that his arbitrary cat jokes still work, something that Shrek's offensiveness lacked towards the end. It could also be that it was just a pretty good story worth telling.
So while there's debatable hope of Minions' quality, those who want to immediately write-off spin-offs should consider Puss in Boots. If you're prone to the Shrek franchise, you may end up liking it quite a bit. Otherwise, it's just a children's move that reflects the growing assurance of Dreamworks' ability to mix laughs with peril and create something fun. Speaking as Shrek served as the studio's early and biggest franchise, it is interesting to see it reinvent itself here and prove that just because the film was based off of a gimmick, it could still work.
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