Puss in Boots: The Last Wish - Review

 

After years trapped in development hell, multiple scrapped story ideas, and two studio buyouts of its animation studio later, the sequel to the 2011 “Shrek” spin-off film is here. From its first trailer, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” dazzled with a new watercolor painting inspired visual style. But is this sequel more than a decade later more than just a pretty kitty face?

Directed by Joel Crawford (“The Croods: A New Age”) and written by Paul Fisher (“The Croods: A New Age,” “The LEGO Ninjago Movie”), Tom Wheeler (“Puss in Boots (2011),” “The LEGO Ninjago Movie”), and Tommy Swerdlow (“Cool Runnings,” “The Grinch (2018)”), the film follows the titular hero Puss in Boots, voiced by Antonio Banderas (“Pain & Glory,” “The Mask of Zorro”), who, after losing eight of his nine lives, decides to seek out the fabled wishing star in the hopes of using the wish to regain his nine lives. Accompanied by Perrito, voiced by Harvey Guillén (“Werewolves Within,” “What We Do in the Shadows (2019)”), he must also outrun the criminal gang of Goldilocks, voiced by Florence Pugh (“Don’t Worry Darling,” “Midsommar”), and the three bears; Mama, Papa, and Baby, voiced by Olivia Colman (“The Favourite,” “Heartstopper”), Ray Winstone (“Beowulf,” “Black Widow”), and Samson Kayo (“Famalam,” “Our Flag Means Death”) respectively, as well as his old flame Kitty Softpaws, voiced by Salma Hayek (“Once Upon a Time in Mexico,” “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”), Big Jack Horner, voiced by John Mulaney (“Documentary Now!,” “Big Mouth”), all while being hunted by a mysterious deadly wolf, voiced by Wagner Moura (“Narcos,” “Elysium”).

While the visual style is the most distinctly noticeable thing at first glance, arguably the film’s most impressive accomplishment is its emotional maturity. The tale is all about Puss on the run from death, attempting to regain his past glories, and there are multiple moments where the emotional toll on him is shown. None of these moments ever feel dumbed down or childish either, such as a sequence in a haunted forest with Perrito wherein Puss has a panic attack. It’s clear that the emotional core of the film and each character was taken very seriously, and it makes for a more engaging film as a result.

Helping that emotional core are the stellar vocal performances. Hayek and Guillén are great and play really well off of Banderas, but he truly steals the show. Given how many films he’s done as Puss, it makes sense that his mannerisms would be second nature to Banderas, but the actor really gives it his all, delivering a wonderful and emotive performance that is full of energy and enrapturing life. Pugh and her three bears are also great, delivering some fantastic work in their subplot, even as the bears get more of the childish humor from the script. Moura is also an incredibly menacing villain, not just because he truly feels dangerous in the context of the adventure, but because he’s voiced excellently, avoiding simple gruff vocal fry and going for a full-bodied, energetic portrayal of menace.

Mulaney, however, sticks out like a sore thumb, pun entirely intended. The way he voices Jack Horner seems like it would be the right approach initially, and the character certainly gets his fair share of great gags and moments. But the longer the film goes on, the more apparent it becomes that he’s simply too big for the material. Yes, this is a movie set in a world that takes fairy tales seriously and also not seriously, but he just feels disconnected from the tightrope walked by the rest of the cast. It's not enough to ruin the film, as he is a secondary villain who’s only in it for maybe ten minutes at most, but he’s certainly the worst aspect.

Speaking of fairy tales though, from the opening moments which proudly proclaim that “this is a fairy tale”, to the very end, there’s a wonderful energy to the entire film that makes it come alive. It feels like you’re watching a window into another world, going on an adventure with these characters, thanks to a combination of the terrific vocal performances and the visual style. But it’s the energy and heart at the center of it all that makes things truly take off. It’s not charm, although the film does have buckets of that, but an energy that comes from how seriously it takes its central character and its world. Quite simply, it's hard not to smile and be swept off your feet the whole way through.

Now about that visual style. Simply put, this might just be Dreamworks’ most gorgeous film yet. While previous movies have experimented with differing art-styles, like the earlier 2022 film “The Bad Guys” or the Dreamworks produced and Mikros Image animated “Captain Underpants”, but this is an entirely different ballpark. Not only does it embrace the alternating frame rates seen in films like “Into the Spider-Verse" but the entire look of the film feels like a gorgeous watercolor painting, like the kind of illustrations you might see in an old book of fairy tales. It brings the entire world to life in a way it never did before, and it actually ends up making the 2011 film look far worse by comparison. Characters fur is made of splotches and smudges, the lighting and colors feel distinct, motion lines appear to accentuate movement, and numerous moments of standout single color backgrounds pinpoint specific moments wonderfully. If nothing else, it’s a beauty of a film to behold.

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” might just be the surprise of the year. A sequel to an oft forgotten 2011 film and the first entry in the “Shrek” franchise in nearly a decade, it bursting with visual wonder and a lively energy the studio hasn’t seen in a very long time. Bolstered by an incredible cast and a touching emotional core, it’s the kind of movie that is clearly a cult favorite in the making. And a gorgeous one at that. 4.5/5