Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2023)

 

Genre: Adventure/Comedy

Time: 1h 40mins

Director: Joel Crawford

Quick Summary: When Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll and he has burned through eight of his nine lives, he launches an epic journey to restore them by finding the mythical Last Wish.

Bursting with colours and life, this is definitely a must-see. 

Familiar voices including Antonio Banderas (Puss), Salma Hayek (Kitty Softpaws), Florence Pugh (Goldilocks) and Olivia Colman (Mama Bear) bring the tale of The Last Wish to life in pure comedic spirits. The humour that Dreamworks is known for delivers jokes for younger viewers and plenty for adults!

The animation was absolutely stunning with lots of intricate details and small little extras that really brought this film to life as well. Everything is so warm and bright, full of richness. It was like it came right out of a children's book. One thing I really liked, the visuals always reflected the mood. Bright and flashy for more of the action-packed scenes, dark and deep tones for more serious bad times, and one that I thought was really cool was the bright warning symbol red for when puss was close to death.

Puss in Boots (Antonia Banderas) especially, as the focal character, is wonderfully written. His character has so much depth and nuance to his actions and motivations that make him believable in ways that not a lot of children's characters do. A lot of the characters in this I loved, they were all very fleshed out and full of personality. Everyone had their own spotlight and you really got to like them. 

There was one problem I had with one character. Jack Horner was the main villain and he felt so bland to me. There wasn't enough for me to really hold onto him. He was extremely one-note and felt a little left behind to me. His end fight was also very lacklustre and honestly left me saying "Is that it?"

Now THE ACTUAL VILLIAN of this story was amazing. I have never seen such a compelling villain. He constantly pushes Puss to the edge of danger creating an actual risk, and filling Puss with so much fear. All the scenes they are in are so tense, and there are a few scenes of the best representation of panic attacks I have seen. They're realistic, and that is important to show this. Nothing about them is glamorised. 

The score is great and as equally as fun as the visuals. This is such an entertaining film, it's well worth the watch.

9/10

"A cat always lands on its feet. Watch! *Falls off a cliff*"

"Death. And I don't mean it metaphorically, or rhetorically, or poetically, or theoretically, or in any other fancy way."

"One life spent with you is all I could ever wish for"

"You're not gonna shoot a puppy are you Jack?

Yeah, in the face, Why?"