Movie Breakdown: Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

Pre-Screening Stance:

I unabashedly love the first Puss in Boots. It’s a really funny, surprisingly unhinged movie that I’ve watched a good 10-15 times. Though, I guess that view count isn’t too wild considering the movie came out way back in 2011. Either way, is The Last Wish arriving too late? Maybe, but I’m encouraged by its amusing trailer. Fingers crossed.

Post-Screening Ramble:

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a winner. The film is centered around – of course – Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), who comes to realize two very important things. One is that he’s down to his last life, having exhausted eight of his nine fairly carelessly over the years, and the second is that he can get them all back if he’s able to find a little something called the Last Wish. How convenient, right? Nope! His journey is complicated by the forced inclusion of a silly, nameless stray dog (Harvey Guillén) and his not-so-trusting former partner, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), as well as a bevy of pursuers, including Jack Horner (John Mulaney), the Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura), and Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo).

First things first, the animation in this movie is fantastic. The original Puss in Boots looks like it belongs right alongside all those Shrek movies, but The Last Wish really steps out on its own. I was impressed with its rather lush, sort of paint-like feel, and the action scenes, which shift into an a very kinetic, anime-esque style, had my full attention. Honestly, I also found myself caught up with Puss’ journey. He’s dealt a great blow, one that eviscerates everything important to him and leaves him only with regrets, and then he has to figure out a way to rebuild himself. It’s maybe a bit of a heavy arc for a kid’s movie, but it’s handled with a good sense of humor and the ultimate lesson it’s slinging is great – be kind, appreciate the good things you have, and live life to the fullest.

It looks great, it’s got some weight to it, and it’s funny – hard to ask for more than that of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. The movie hits theaters tomorrow, December 21.

One Last Thought:

It’s pretty funny to me that Dwayne Johnson went on and on about Black Adam and the whole anti-hero thing, but the better anti-hero affair this year turned out to be this one, which is about a cat who wears boots.