Directed By Chris Miller

Starring – Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Florence Pugh

The Plot – Puss in Boots (Banderas) discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll: he has burned through eight of his nine lives. Puss sets out on an epic journey to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives before it’s all too late.

Rated PG for some adventure action and mild rude humor

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH | Official Trailer – YouTube

POSITIVES

In the eleven years since that has passed from the original installment, our favorite furious feline returns to the fold, with many vital improvements that makes this a superior sequel, in my eyes. For starters, the script commits itself to a lot of heft and mature thematic impulses, in everything from death to the afterlife, to even momentary panic attacks from its titular protagonist. This not only makes him feel as relatable as ever to an audience still grumbling about not getting another Shrek installment from this studio, but also grounds this fantastical world of imagination in the kind of reality that is best suited for the profound sentiments of adult audiences along for the ride. In addition to this, the plot device of Puss on his last life brings with it a vulnerability and bludgeoning emphasis on the stakes for the conflict that only add urgency to the narrative, and when in tow with a brief but effective 95-minute run time, allows the script to consistently keep moving, despite the abundance of exposition and information it’s asked to imbed naturally. Equally adding to this benefit is also a trio of fairy tale villains opposing Puss’ mission, with each garnering something uniquely menacing to his adversity. For my money, each of them are great without the conflict feeling overrun by imbalance of screen time, but John Mulaney’s Jack Honrner is the absolute best, combining ruthlessness and deceit to a portrayal that relish in the evilness of his character design. Beyond this, the humor, with a charming radiance over all respective audience age groups, dazzles with the kind of consistency and creativity that continuously pushes the envelope of its surprising PG rating, with everything from cursing bleeps to sardonic humor tenderly tickling the funny bone with infectious delight. This was especially a problem with the original installment, as the material felt a bit too fluffy and safe for my taste, but here reached the right level of edginess and ingenuity to its various punchlines that pleased more times than padded. Technical merit is also greatly improved and appreciated here, as the vibrancy of color throughout fantastical landscapes, and expressively emotive facial registries in character designs embody a fleshed-out emphasis that finally feels complete. Though there are other problems with the consistencies of action sequences, which I will get to later, the presentation gears itself to gorgeous for the silver screen, and with ambitious cinematography in and around the framing movements and its many atmospheric enveloping’s, obscures the line between live action and animated seamlessly, leading to moments when I actually forgot that I was watching the latter. Finally, the ensemble is an impressive assortment of A-listers like Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Salma Hayek, Florence Pugh and Harvey Guillen, but it’s still Banderas who stamps a particular uniqueness to the titular role, which makes him feel irreplaceable for future installments. Banderas suavely sinister delivery enlists a charm and cadence that make him a spectacle any time his character faces conflict, and though Antonio oozes charisma in captivating an audience, it’s the tenderness of his heart that is most appreciative in this death-defying chapter, bringing with it moments of internal reflection and growth that actually lives by the lessons it imparts to its youthful audience.

NEGATIVES

On the subject of the aforementioned action sequences, they’re fun and impactfully detectable enough, but the frame rate of their capture still leaves a distracting emphasis, and one that is all the stranger with the fact that it isn’t always present here. During moments where characters are involved in quick moving conflicts with one another, the presentation starts to lag a bit, reaching for what feels like a “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” kind of aesthetic impulse, but without the symmetry or smoothness of its capture, instead leaving it a bit lackluster during key moments for the presentation to shine. In addition to this, the script, with all of its thematic heft and maturity in subject matter, still feels like the typical clichéd conquest movie, where the world of cinema lends itself to the one-dimensional structure of video games, in ways that don’t transfer naturally to the concept. Because of such here, we’re given a plot device, three quests along the way that our protagonists have to conquer, and a road that is every bit predictable as it is riddled with tropes that make so many of these films interchangeable by design, in turn leaving the wish itself kind of convoluted and undervalued when held in tow to internal character struggles that are far more appealing. Finally, the ending does deliver in the inevitable confrontation of the many sides promised throughout the narrative, but the resolution leaves it bland with a combination of convenience and tidiness that leave its plot a bit inconsequential. This is the worst aspect of a kids’ film with so much to say because it undervalues everything previously garnered for a plot device that grows all the more tedious with each passing instance, in turn wasting away one of Puss’ key conflicts that deserved the extent of its promised confrontation, but instead settled on the kind of laziness that leaves it a bit unnecessary by execution.

OVERALL
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is an improvement of its predecessor but lacks the claws necessary in the small details to return Dreamworks to animation prominence. Even still, Banderas continues his hypnotic spell over the titular role and remarkable ensemble, with the comedic material among the very best of this year’s animated offerings, proving this Shrek-conceived franchise has a lot of life left to give to his next sword-wielding adventure.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-