MOVIE REVIEW
'Puss In Boots: The Last Wish' Is The Surprise Hit Of The Year
By Sal LoCicero | December 30, 2022
Between ‘Avatar’ and ‘Puss In Boots’, this holiday has been a special surprise for early to mid 2000s children. Not only has an Avatar sequel been a long awaited project, but this year’s ‘Puss In Boots: The Last Wish’ has also taken a good amount of time to release after the 2011 movie. Dreamworks Animation has fallen under the radar due to the many Disney & Pixar projects that were released in the last decade.
After Puss In Boots finds out that his eight out of nine lives burnt out, he sets out on an adventure to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives. In doing so he encounters someone from his past as well as an abandoned little dog who becomes eager to join Puss on his quest.
One could say that a sequel to a decade old movie is irrelevant, however given this month’s theatrical results that would be hypocritical. ‘Puss In Boots: The Last Wish’ looks like a movie that should not work at all (most of the time if a sequel like this were to be released now it would land directly to a streaming service), but shockingly enough, this entry reinvigorates Puss In Boots (and the ‘Shrek’ franchise). It also comes as a complete shock that this was able to succeed, given some of its writers have a history working on mediocre movies.
Antonio Banderas is fantastic as this character, at times his performance gives off the same refreshing energy as Chris Hemsworth in ‘Thor: Ragnarok. Banderas is given another chance to play Puss and he makes it count. Salma Hayek as Kitty Softpaws is the perfect side character, and the bickering between Puss and Kitty is hilarious. Harvey Guillen as Perro (the little dog) is a risky character, who’s presence seemed unnecessary but later grew tolerable. The antagonist Big Jack Horner is uninteresting, however John Mulaney being the voice actor allows you to put those issues aside.
The animation is wonderful, and it is very unique with the visual style by blending 2D and 3D animation together. The visual artists pay homage to the retro look while embracing the modern age of technology. This is another factor that shows how refreshing the creators intended the sequel to be and hints to the audience that they are in for another ‘Into The Spider-Verse', on both a technical and narrative standpoint.
‘Puss In Boots: The Last Wish’ is an unexpectedly fun and exciting sequel with rich animation and innovative directing that opens the possibilities for new adventures with Puss (and Kitty).
Grade: A
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