The Cute, the Bearded, and the Clawless
Directed by: Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado
Written by: Tommy Swerdlow, Tom Wheeler, Paul Fisher
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén, Wagner Moura
Swift shot: Disney dreams they could make something so entertaining, magical, and memorable. With rich characters, a clear message about family and friendship, and no wasted screen time, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is worthy of the Shrek lineage and in some ways has surpassed it.
It’s hard to believe it has been over ten years since we last swash buckled with our favorite fearless feisty feline. And so much has changed in our collective worlds that it’s quite fitting Puss is now an aged, muddled, muttering mess stalked by fear. In fact, much of the movie is spent focusing on the perspective of navigating a perilous life through the three main characters.
Puss (Banderas) is faced with the real threat of mortality, as he is literally down to his last life. And his anxiety cripples him.
Kitty (Hayek) is the never trusting cynic who always sees the bad in people and assumes the worst out of life. She relies on her skills to stay alive and keeps anyone who might try to get close at a paw’s distance.
Meanwhile, newcomer Perro ( Guillén) is full of misplaced optimism, as life tries to snuff out his kind and cheery nature at every opportunity. But, like a plucky puppy, he just never sees the bad in life.
Because, in the end, death comes for us all. It’s how we deal with that looming red-eyed specter that defines our lives, our character, and our souls. Dude, that’s pretty heavy shit for a cartoon movie about a cat with footwear and a sword! But, that is the overarching theme of the movie, and it is handled deftly.
When the film opens, Puss is in ribald form, performing for some townspeople and annoying a local Governor, as he manages to find some time to smite a giant that is none too happy about being roused by Puss and his merry revelries.
After that encounter; though, Puss meets a dark mysterious bounty hunter called Wolf (Moura) that shakes his resolve and exiles him to Mama Luna’s cat sanctuary. It’s essentially like being put out to pasture, only with hundreds of other cats and the indignities that go along with “giving up” and “moving on.”
But while Puss is there, he meets the aforementioned Perro who becomes instantly loyal to Puss, who honestly just wants to be left alone. Believe it or not, he doesn’t even want to talk about himself anymore.
Fate intervenes as Goldi (Florence Pugh) and her three bears crime family come tracking down Puss at Mama Luna’s. They want to hire him to retrieve a magical map that will lead to the Wishing Star, a place where one wish is granted.
Reluctantly, Puss agrees to steal the map from Jack Horner (John Mulaney) and there he is reunited with Kitty, who also wants the map to make a wish of her own.
The Wolf is as big and bad as any classic Disney villain, before they got bogged down by retconning them into weak sympathetic anti-heroes. He is menacing, omnipresent, and relentless. And he is the only character not interested in getting his wish fulfilled by some magic star. His only desire is to kill the legendary Puss in Boots!
What happens next is the perfect setup for a chase to the gold, err, I mean the Wishing Star. There is heavy homage paid to The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, where three characters of varying motives and morals are chasing down an unimaginable fortune. I must confess, it has been decades since I watched that movie, but it is iconic and I am sure a re-watch is in my near future. The Last Wish has certainly made a case for it.
The same team that made The Croods: A New Age worked on The Last Wish, and it shows in all the right ways. The landscape is rich and colorful, and the action is intense. The music is dynamic, dramatic, and is the perfect accent to the story and effects. Speaking of the effects, there are a few fight sequences where the animation style shifts slightly and an almost flip-book, stop action element is used which was masterfully executed.
While the movie wasn’t a ton of laughs, I did find myself chuckling a few times, and the dark humor of certain characters was nuanced and appreciated. I particularly liked one little character who chirps in on ethical conundrums from time to time. I won’t reveal more than that, because his reveal is perfect. It takes a shot at Disney in a clever way, and in fact there are quite a few “shots fired” at the mouse, as there’s always been a bit of respectful rivalry between the two studios.
I could be wrong here, but I’d wager that they took the gloves off a bit more in this movie than they did in any of the Shrek films. You be the judge, but I caught some nice little Easter eggs throughout that only adults would catch and enjoy.
End of the day, this is a film about family and about what is truly most important in your life, searching for what you might wish for before death comes for you too. Plus. it’s also a really enjoyable and entertaining sequel that I suggest you check out!
