The story is about the cat's experience before meeting Shrek. It mainly explains why the cat has a pair of boots and what the boots mean to him. The content of the story has nothing to do with Shrek, and there is no trace of Shrek, Princess Fiona and Donkey Fire Dragon in the film. So viewers hoping to see Shrek and Princess Fiona may be a little disappointed. But what does that matter?
The plot of the film is actually a bit cliché. Typical Hollywood-style action movies and westerns. It's nothing more than the protagonist's good nature, but because of being framed by his friend Humpty Alexander Dumpty, he is desperate. In order to clear his name, he tries to find the fabled fortune to return the popular property lost to Egghead's theft. In the process, he meets Dantou, his childhood friend again, and believes that his friend has changed his mind. However, when he helped his friend find the legendary wealth, he was betrayed by his friend again, misunderstood, and thrown into prison. And when he learned that the whole village was in trouble, he disregarded his previous suspicions, and finally resolved the crisis with his wit and courage and saved the innocent from the disaster. Therefore, he proved his innocence and defended his dignity. The villain in the film, the cat's friend, was finally influenced by the cat's beliefs and actions, and helped the cat to resolve the disaster in the village by means of suicide at a critical moment. Since then, Cat has embarked on a journey of chivalry in his boots that symbolize justice and bravery. In the natural film, our protagonist cat is also accompanied by the beautiful cat mm.
Audiences familiar with Hollywood genre films must have a sense of deja vu in the film's storytelling. In fact, there is not much surprise in the setting of the plot of "Swordsman Boots". Audiences can effortlessly predict where the story will go and where it will end. But it is such an old-fashioned cartoon with a type of character that came out on top in the first week of its North American release and won the box office champion. The reason, of course, is not because of the fascinating story. It is because of the precise calculation of the market positioning by DreamWorks. Of course, in addition to this, the production staff also contributed to the capture of the cat's shape and demeanor.
As Hollywood's already typed cartoons, "Swordsman Boots", like "Kung Fu Panda" and many other cartoons, clearly expresses the common city values promoted by the United States. Justice, bravery, honor, trust, friendship, and persistence in the pursuit of your true self. All three of the film's protagonists—the cat in the boots, the two-time betrayal of the pussy's egghead, and the sexy softpaws (kitty softpaws)—all lost their way at times growing up, but They all finally found themselves and maintained justice. In addition, the film also raised two common problems in real life. That is, how to deal with misunderstandings and how to face the success of others. For the former, the cat's performance in the film gave a clear answer. That is, do not explain too much, but use a tolerant attitude and practical actions to prove it to everyone. Even if there is grievance, there is a moment when the truth comes out. As for the latter, the film clearly condemns those who have been fascinated by jealousy. What's more, "Swordsman Boots" promotes the teaching that human nature is inherently good.
"Swordsman Boots" is a movie that is meant to be watched by the whole family. However, the PG rating does not mean that this cartoon is mainly made for children. In fact, the plot, characters, dialogue, action, music and scenes of the film are all designed for various audience groups. First of all, for male audiences, the cat's desperation, solo adventure, and insistence on justice are exactly the same as those of heroes in distress in action blockbusters. And his instinctive choice to save people in danger also shows the typical personal heroism in Hollywood movies. At the same time, the female soft-palm cat who made the cat fall in love also satisfies the male fantasy of the opposite sex. Enchanting figure, provocative look, charming and slightly aggressive wildness. It is easy to think of the female characters in the 007 movie. For female audiences, the film's description of the cat's life experience adds an emotional entanglement of family drama to the film. The phrase "You are better than this!" said by the adoptive mother to the cat makes people see the mother's expectations and trust in her children. And this line that appears repeatedly in the film has also become the motto of the cat growing up. In addition, the cat's feigned deep cool expression is also a trick used by the cool male owners in Hollywood movies. Although the image design of the soft-palm cat is based on male vision, its vigorous skills and shrewd manners often compare the protagonist cat. Therefore, it has the character of the female warrior in the martial arts film. And the fact that the pros and cons in the movie are clear at a glance also makes this movie adapt to the needs of young children. The master creator's delicate capture and visual reproduction of the cat's dynamic and verve is also a metaphor for the relationship. Coupled with the multiple interpretations of the meaning of the English name of the film, it is no wonder that some people will raise the point that the film is a pseudo-family film with erotic elements.
Like many cartoons, the protagonist of "Swordsman Boots" is also born out of characters in children's literature. The Puss in Boots was originally a fairy tale character created by French writer Charles Perrault in 1697. In fairy tales, the cat in boots who knows magic helps his poor master to marry the king's daughter. The story is featured in Perrault's famous "The Tales of Mother Goose." At the same time, the appearance of Mother Goose in the film also reminds the audience of the connection between the film and Perrault's fairy tales. So for many viewers familiar with Perrault's fairy tales, Puss in Boots evokes childhood memories for this group of viewers. However, the film did not copy the original book in its entirety, but only intercepted typical images from fairy tales and created a brand new story for it. Therefore, the audience has a strange sense of it. And DreamWorks constructed a space where nostalgia and newness coexist in the process of adapting from children's literature to screen cartoons.
Compared with the Shrek series, the exotic style of "Swordsman Boots" is stronger. The cat is still voiced by Hispanic actor Antonio Banderas, while the heroine is voiced by Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek. Coupled with the design of scenes and character costumes, flamenco and music, the whole film is filled with a Latin style. The cat's personal mark on the screen with a sword in the opening film and the appearance of him riding alone on a galloping horse at the end of the film also make the audience immediately connect with another famous Latin screen image - created by Antonio Ban Dellas played Zorro, the hero who played twice.
So far, we can see that the characters in "Swordsman Boots" are by no means original, but they also do not originate from a single text. Viewers can see many familiar figures in writing and video. This inevitably creates a feeling of deja vu. However, while DreamWorks adapted the original characters in the film, it also did the work of processing, reorganizing and re-creating. The cat is no longer the cat in the original fairy tale, nor is it the incarnation of Zorro. The resulting strangeness leads the audience to experience a new viewing experience in the familiar story routine. Maybe that's why Hollywood keeps making movies with similar storylines.
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