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When I first heard that the Puss In Boots movie that was originally released in 2011 was getting a sequel, I was overjoyed. The original Puss in Boots is one of my favorite movies and my expectations were high for Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. I would say that my expectations were easily met. Oh my god, this movie was so good.
One of the most notable traits of this movie was the animation style. They did this 3D animation that is similar to the one used in Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. I really enjoy this style of animation because it's a really fun way to refresh the characters without changing them completely. Speaking of charater design, I loved the way they made all the characters look in this movie. They made them look softer and rounder compared to the earlier days of the Shrek/Puss franchise, which is a style I quite enjoy (comparison of Puss in Boots from 2011 and from The Last Wish shown below). I also love the antention to detail the animators had. We're able to see the differnce in textures throughout the world, from all the animals fur, the curosion on Puss's sword, the tatters on Perrito's sock sweater, etc.. Not to mention that the lighting and scenary in this movie was absolutely phenomenal (also depicted bellow). Thank god for modern computer animation.
When it comes to the plot of the movie, I was pleasantly surpized. While this movie had most of the same elements as it's prequel (hiests, double crossings, battle scenes, etc.), it had this added element of dread that was pretty daunting up to the climax of the movie. The story circulates arround Puss being on his last life (cats have 9 lives, he's used up 8 of them sorta thing) and finding out about a wishing star that could potentially give him more lives to live. The feeling of dread comes from the Big Bad Wolf (a.k.a. Death) constantly being 10 steps ahead of Puss at every turn. In moments where Puss had even the smallest victory, Death was right there reminding him that he only had one life left. This was a very interesting choice for the writers to make. If you've followed the Puss in Boots storyline, you'd know that Puss is a very big risk taker. He's a hero that's beloved by all and fears nothing. To see him be humbled and brought to his lowest in the span of a 5 minuet fight scene was quite shocking, put poetic in a sence. It symbolizes that good things don't last forever and to make the most of life.
The thing I love most about the movies from the Shrek/Puss In Boots series is the refrences to fairy tales and nursery rhymes. I bring this up becaus we get to see a plethera of new charaters in this movie. There's Goldie Locks (voiced by Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears, Perrito, and the main antagonists Jack Horner (voiced by John Mulaney) and the Big Bad Wolf a.k.a Death (voiced by Wagner Moura). However we get to see recurring charaters like Kitty Softpaws, Pinoccio, and some flashbacks containing Shrek and Donkey.
John Mulaney as Jack Horner was arguably the most funniest character in this entire movie. There was never a moment when Jack was on screen and I wasn't laughing. His most notable quotes being, "Don't be near where I'm flame throwing", "You know I never had much as a kid. Just loving parents, stability, a mansion, and a thriving baked goods enterprise to inherit. Useless crap like that" and arguably my favorite, "What did I do to deserve this!?! I mean what specifically?" . My quotes don't do him any justice, his execusion was what made him absolutly hilarious. "He's so me", says Sofia Trubiano (fellow Kamp member and Pop Music Director), who went with me to see the movie.
Speaking of the comedy in this movie, it felt like average Dreamworks humor but better. There were several instantces where the character speaking would go to say a swear word but it would get bleeped out. Something about bleeped out words in a movie that's marketed primaraly towards children was absoulutely hillarious to me. I feel like its the shock value that makes it comedic. After the movie I expressed to Sofia that I needed a directors cut where the characters were alowed to swear because the idea of a cartoon dog innocently saying the f-word would be so funny. The sarcasm is also really funny.
One thing that was kind of hit or miss for me was the romance sequences that occured between Puss and Kitty Softpaws. Which was really surprising to me because I'm a sucker for cheesy, romantic sequeces. While it was established in the prequel that they had feelings for each other, it was a slowburning relation ship and wasn't really made the main focus. In The Last Wish, they made it a very prevalent part of the plot, which I guess makes sence given the premise of the wish Kitty wants to make. However, the movie would've been just as good without the constant flirting and romantic tension between the two; it felt kind of forced and rushed. Sofia also felt very strongly about this. Everytime Puss and Kitty flirted or did any kind of romantic gesture, Sofia would turn to me, gag, and say "Why are these two cartoon cats flirting???" so, I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one who felt this way.
My final thoughts: I would give this movie a solid 8.9/10. Taking away some points for wierd cartoon cat flirting and since this is a kids movie, none of the characters got to swear even though I know everyone working on that movie wanted them to. The one question I'm left wondering is, Where is Spain located geographically in order to be close to the Far Far Away Kingdom???
UPDATED INFORMATION: I truly did not capture Sofia's utter disgust and rage towards Puss and Kitty Softpaws constant flirting and romantic tension, so I'm going to try my best to explain here. After the movie had ended and we were walking in the parking lot, Sofia expressed how awful it was to see two cartoon cats constantly flirting. So much so, she was almost brought to her knees in anguish in the middle of the parking lot. It was hilarious. That is all, thank you for reading.
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