So, I never thought I would say this, but you should go watch Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. I cannot really understand how great this film is. Puss and Boots: The Last Wish has no business being as good as it is. It is funny, exciting, emotional, and visually beautiful. If you do not know, Puss and Boots is a Zorro-like feline character from the Shrek Universe, and this movie is the sequel to the first Puss and Boots movie from a decade ago. I have neither seen any of the Shrek movies nor the first Puss and Boots movie, so I did not have any interest in watching this movie. I absolutely did not care that this movie was coming out, and I did not even know this movie was even a thing. But word of mouth hailed this movie as one of the best animated movies of 2022, so I decided to give Puss and Boots: The Last Wish a watch.
I went to the Brooklyn Alamo Drafthouse to watch Puss in Boots, my favorite cinema, and the theatre was very, very crowded, which was surprising since this movie has been out for over a month. I am assuming the Oscar buzz is keeping this movie popping, or parents have nothing else to do with their children. But if you are a parent, take your children to see this masterpiece. In fact, you will end up enjoying the movie more than your kids. This movie just slaps.
The premise of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is that Puss and Boots has burned through eight of his nine lives. As he faces his own mortality, he decides to go on an adventure to find the mythical last wish. It is honestly shocking how introspective this movie gets when tackling very mature themes of family, trust, arrogance, and fulfillment. The creators behind this project clearly put so much effort and time into crafting the best film possible; from the story to the animation, everything is top-notch. This movie could have easily been a throw-away cash-crab, but instead, it is being nominated for the Best Animated Picture Oscar.
I do not understand why Antonio Banderas loves voicing Puss in Boots. He just does, and we as a species just must accept that. There are a couple of antagonists in the film, but the one that most people have been talking about is the Wolf. The demeanor in which the Wolf is presented, the way it is animated in shadow and moves frenetically, and his deep voice just makes for an absolutely menacing villain. But my standout performance was John Mulaney’s Jack Horner, who is just the most irredeemable, terrible person you could think of. There are small hints to his backstory, and in most movies of this type, you would think he would have some sort of redemptive arc. But nope. He is just a monster. Just an awful, awful monster. And I am all for it.
The ending is great. You will laugh and cry. And you will have an existential crisis. I do not have any more to say. Go watch Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
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