Puss in Boots: The Last Wish review
April 10, 2023
Some pretty big spoilers ahead.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a very classic take on fairy tale quests. Puss in Boots, (Antonio Banderas), a returning Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), as well as a dog Puss reluctantly takes as a companion, Perrito (Harvey Guillen) are out for a wishing star that will grant the user anything their heart desires. Shenanigans ensue as the antagonist of the story “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney) and his goons, Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Coleman, and Samson Kayo) pursue the wishing star for their own purposes.
Its breathtaking animation and hilarious star-studded cast performing at high energy at all times truly sets this film apart. The film’s whimsical and delightfully cartoonish style is refreshing when compared to the trend of realism seen recently in children’s animated movies. The art style (reminiscent of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse) is characterized by richer colors and lower frame rates that add an anime-like emphasis to the characters’ movements, especially in fight scenes.
One of my favorite scenes was toward the beginning of the movie, as Puss’s doctor was recounting his previous eight lives. As the fast paced music plays, each of his lives literally flashed before our eyes, and we see the heroic (and embarrassing) ways this light-footed feline hero has gone out in the past. The sequence is electrifying, I became very excited for what the rest of the movie had in store for us.
The combat scenes in this movie are intense for a kid’s film, though I am not one to complain about that. Early in the movie, Puss has a run-in with the Big Bad Wolf, which terrifies him into retirement. This is one of the more atmospheric scenes, where the entire setting reflects the terror inspired by the wolf. Throughout his quest for the star, we see the recurring image of the Big Bad Wolf and the intensity with which this affects Puss mentally, which culminates in a panic attack from the hero within a grim forest. This scene could be difficult to watch for some of the audience, and could have been difficult for younger viewers to process. However, shortly after, Perrito comes to his side to comfort him, and it ends up being a painfully endearing and heartwarming experience.
Our protagonist starts to contemplate what it means to be down to his last life, and has to meditate on and realize what truly matters. When he does confront the Big Bad Wolf later on, (who has at this point revealed himself to be Death, “straight up,”) Puss, certain in his own personal accomplishment and more appreciative of his life, overcomes his fear and rises to the challenge, fighting for what he has at every strike of Death’s scythe. It really is quite beautiful, and the fight scene itself was made incredibly intriguing by the animators.
One of my favorite aspects of The Last Wish is how it has us connecting with this protagonist who might appear to be very different from ourselves. Most of us aren’t older gentlemen who’ve spent their lives as swashbuckling outlaws, or cats. Still, I felt very connected to the protagonist. He relishes in his glory, he’s confident in his talents, and he’s quite self-satisfied in ways that can get in the way of developing personal relationships in a healthy way.
You could be wondering why Diego is getting so worked up over a children’s flick, but I can assure you it really is quite a beautiful meditation on self-confidence, at least. There’s some more sophisticated humor in there, and I couldn’t imagine someone walking out of the theater without laughing at least a couple times.
The movie’s pretty, the movie’s funny.
Yeah, watch it.