Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Cats are the best! This is proven once and for all by Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. A fun animated action adventure movie, with a choice voice role for Antonio Banderas (The Mask of Zorro) as the titular character.
The Last Wish is a belated sequel to the first Puss in Boots movie from 2011. But why, you may ask, is it called that? Well, as we all know, cats are supposed to have nine lives. And Puss, who has lived a dangerous, Zorro style life, is down to his last one. And now that he is getting long in the tooth, he has to prove he is no Wuss in Boots.
So he sets out on a journey in search of the mythical Last Wish, to restore his nine lives. But he is not the only one who has a wish…
He is accompanied by his beloved Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), who may have an axe to grind with her ex after he left her at the altar, and by a little orphan dog they call Perro (Harvey Guillen), who just wants to be loved.
There are others too in this colorful and fast-paced movie: there is the horrible Jack Horner (John Mulaney), a Donald Trump-like figure, who also craves The Last Wish. While both The Big Bad Wolf (Walter Moura) and Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (led by Olivia Coleman in supporting roles) also turn up in prominent supporting roles and all have their own agenda.
The movie does feel a little over crowded at times, but Banderas - who played Zorro in two live action movies - is clearly having a ball, while Hayek and he play well off each other.
Also, the animation is vibrant and colorful and even though this DreamWorks-feature doesn’t have the emotional impact of, say, one of the better Pixar movies, it’s still an exuberant form of escapism, that is well worth a trip to a theatre.
As I said before, cats are the best!