Who doesn’t love the swashbuckling
cat
known as
Puss in Boots
from the
Shrek
films? I can’t get enough of him and, it would seem,
neither can Shrek fans, because he was given his very own film. Puss
in Boots, released on October 28, 2011, takes place long before Puss meets
Shrek and
Donkey, at a time when he was protector of the innocent and romancer
of all that is feline. In this adventure, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) is
after murderous outlaws Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton
and
Amy Sedaris), who
are in possession of beans that contain a magical power that threatens the
fate of the world.
The musical score of
Puss in Boots was created by British composer
Henry Jackman. A student of classical music before working on programming and
production with the likes of such superstars as
Mike Oldfield
and
Elton John, Jackman began dabbling in musical scoring in 2006. He has
additional music to movies like
Kung Fu Panda,
The Da Vinci Code,
The Dark Knight,
and more. His most recent solo scoring forays include
Monsters vs. Aliens,
Gulliver’s Travels,
X-Men: First Class
and
Winnie the Pooh. The soundtrack features music performed by
the popular Mexican
acoustic guitar
duo
Rodrigo Y Gabriela.
The music found on the
Puss in Boots Soundtrack
features a
definite
Mexican
flare, complete with
Mariachi horns, acoustic guitars,
castanets
and more. It perfectly describes the dashing Puss in Boots in all of
his glory, accentuating his romantic side, while enhancing his adventurous and
daring personality.
Despite the length of the album - over one hour of music contained
in 24 tracks - the Puss in Boots Soundtrack doesn’t seem overly long. In
fact, I found it to be a whole lot of fun. My favorite tracks include the
Rodrigo Y Gabriela tracks,
Diablo Rojo
and
Hanuman, and
Chasing Tail,
Puss Suite
and virtually all the tracks featuring the Puss in Boots
Mexican theme. I love the brass fanfare, acoustic guitars and percussions.
Henry Jackman created the perfect musical score
for this film. I can imagine Puss in Boots swashbuckling his way through the
film in
Zorro-esque style with this music playing in the background. Quite
frankly, I don’t see how any other style scoring would fit in a film like this.
The soundtrack is a lot of fun. I wanted to see the movie long before I
listened to the Puss in Boots Soundtrack, but hearing the musical score
only enhances my desire to get myself to the movie theater and check out the
film.
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