For decades, the animated feature film sequel did not exist. Did the idea exist? I don't know about that, as there could have been grumblings behind closed doors, but simply look at the run of movies from the Walt Disney studios starting in the 1930s, and you'll see that (other than the Winnie the Pooh films), none of the major movies got sequels. This idea didn't come about until the home video revolution and we were suddenly inundated with sub-par sequels. The idea of an animated sequel playing on the big-screen is a relatively new idea (some entries, such as The Rescuers Down Under, aside), but it's now become commonplace, as Pixar and Dreamworks apparently have no problems bringing their well-known characters back to big screen time and time again. And now, with Puss in Boots, we're getting spin-offs from successful franchises.

After appearing in three of the Shrek films, Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) is now ready for his own solo adventure, in a story which takes place before the Shrek movies. As the film opens, Puss recounts his life story and we learn that he grew up in an orphanage in a small town. As Puss finishes this tale, he arrives in a city, looking for work. At the local bar, he learns that Jack (voiced by Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (voiced by Amy Sedaris) have the legendary "magic beans". Puss has been looking for these for years, and when he goes to steal them from the intimidating pair, he runs into fellow cat burglar Kitty Softpaws (voiced by Selma Hayek). He chases Kitty to a cat nightclub, where he learns that she is working for Humpty Dumpty (voiced by Zach Galifianakis), who spells out his plan to get the beans and get the treasure at the top of the beanstalk. Through another flashback, we learn that Puss and Humpty were friends at the orphanage, but they had a falling out. Puss is tempted by Humpty's plan, but can he trust this egg?

When it comes to the Shrek films, my tastes run the exact opposite of seemingly everyone else. I found the first two movies to be unfunny and desperate to be clever, while the second two were funny and charming. Given this, I really didn't know what to expect from Puss in Boots. As a spin-off would it have a vibe similar to the Shrek movies, or would it do its own thing. I do know that I was very intrigued by the trailers, as they included a number of cat-centric jokes, and I, for one, feel that it's time cats got their due in movies.

I was surprised to find that Puss in Boots didn't conform to any of these expectations. On the positive side, the movie is very technically impressive. The animation looks fantastic and given that Puss and Kitty have very detailed fur, it's clear that a lot of care went into the artwork here. There is a lot of fast-paced action here, and the animation never suffers in detail. The color palette leans towards Earth tones at times, but the more colorful scenes look great.

But, the technical wizardry climbs an uphill battle against a lackluster story and a dour tone. Sure, the Shrek movies would get momentarily serious at times, but for the most part, they were pretty buoyant. I felt that Puss in Boots got downright bleak (for a kid's movie) in some scenes, especially those which dealt with Humpty's view on the world and the fact that Puss and Humpty were orphans. The humor which has been so prominently featured in the trailer rarely reared its head during the movie. There are a few good laughs here, but the film seems to be much more concerned with being an action film. That would be fine is the story was interesting, but it isn't. The movie makes good with its promise of fleshing out Puss' story, as it is his movie, but the new characters, Kitty Softpaws and Humpty Dumpty don't bring much to the table. Their story may seem new to younger viewers, but it will be very familiar to adults. (And maybe it's just me, but I found Humpty to be very creepy looking.)

I'm sure that there are those who saw Puss in Boots as a cash-in idea by Dreamworks, but as the Shrek series has come to an end, there's nothing wrong with exploring one of the side characters. And, there's nothing wrong with making the tone different from the Shrek movies. The problem here is that Puss in Boots is a decidedly lifeless at times. It's never boring, as there's always something happening, but the movie seems to move along because it has to, not because it wants to. For me, the biggest disappointment was that the movie wasn't as funny as I'd hoped it would be. The Puss character is still an entertaining one, and he deserves a better movie.

Puss in Boots isn't that cat movie which I've always wanted to see on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD which runs at an average of 29 Mbps. The image is extremely sharp and clear, showing on grain and no defects from the source material. This must be a digital-to-digital transfer, as it looks great. The colors look great and the image is never overly dark or bright. The image has a crispness to it, and even this non-3D version has tremendous depth, and the lack of detail is very impressive. The Disc carries a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are very good, and the scenes in-town give us constant reminders of sounds happening just off-screen. The action scenes provide great surround sound effects which are very detailed -- we can pick out individual sounds. The subwoofer effects are great as well, providing deep bass which is never overwhelming.

The Puss in Boots Blu-ray Disc contains several extras. "Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos" (13 minutes) is a mini-sequel to the film which offers Puss' next adventure and a few good lines. The film can be watched with a "Trivia Track" of "Pop-up" topics, or with "The Animator's Corner", which is a picture-in-picture commentary-like offering which brings us comments from the filmmakers, as well as animatics and production art, along with other behind-the-scenes footage. "A Dreamwork's Fairytale" is a sort of "Mad Libs" nursery rhyme builder, while "Puss' Paw Pouncing Challenge" is a set-top game. "Purr-fect Pairing: The Voices Behind the Legend" (9 minutes) takes us into the studio to see the voice actors at work, as well as a sort of making of. We get comments from the actors who talk about their characters. The Disc contains three DELETED SCENES which run about 7 minutes, complete with introductions. All three are "test" scenes, meaning that they are mostly black and white animatics with limited animation. There are some cute jokes here, and the alternate finale is certainly interesting (and one which most probably wondered about while watching the movie). "Kitten to Cat" (12 minutes) is a (full-fledged) making-of which looks at the origins of the film and how the project came together, including the story and the cast. Choreographer Laura Miller demonstrates the cat dances moves from the film in "Glitter Box Dance Off!" (5 minutes). "Klepto Kitty" (4 minutes) is a brief segment (which feels like something from an Animal Planet show) which profiles a real-life cat who steals things from neighbors. "Kitty Keyboard" is a weird interactive music feature. "Fairytale Pup-up Book" is an interactive feature which gives us background on Puss, Kitty Softpaws, Humpty Dumpty, and Jack and Jill. "Kitty Strikes Again" is another set-top game.