Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – Film Review
To be completely honest, I never saw the first Puss in Boots movie, which is a spin-off of the Shrek franchise, and I truly thought the sequel, The Last Wish, wouldn’t be very good. But how wrong I was! Not only is it amazing, but it is also now Oscar nominated!
The film stars the egotistical swashbuckling cat, Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas), who has used up eight of his nine lives and is being pursued by a scary wolf (Wagner Moura). He is advised to spend his last life chilling with a cat lady, but this does not sit right with the adventure-loving feline. When he hears about a magical Wishing Star which can grant a single wish, he is determined to be the first one to get his paws on it – but he has competition from Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the three bears (Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone and Samson Kayo) and Jack Horner (John Mulaney).
This film is great fun! The story doesn’t sound like much but I can assure you that it is a seriously entertaining action-adventure for all the family. It has a brilliant sense of humour and I found myself laughing often. There are moments of physical comedy and joke-heavy action setpieces but the writing is also really smart and witty.
I must admit that I did start to lose interest in it a little as it neared the final act. The journey to reach the star became a slog and I was ready for that to be over. Thankfully, the makers brought the story back and it ended with a bang (and an excellent end credits song).
The animation also looks fantastic. The fight scenes are executed well, it’s really colourful and there are some interesting and unexpected camera angles. However, I really disliked the way Jack Horner looked. I know he’s supposed to be an ugly villain but he was visually repellant!
The voice cast is seriously top-notch. Banderas and Hayek bring back Puss and Kitty’s amusing tit-for-tat, will-they-won’t-they rapport, however, this time they are joined by a lovely and lonely dog, Perrito (Harvey Guillen). Pugh adopts a common British accent to make her Goldilocks rough and ready (she has a lovely subplot of her own) and Moura is suitably menacing as the mysterious hooded wolf.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is so much better than expected. It is hilarious and enjoyable and boasts a dance-inducing soundtrack.
In cinemas from Friday 3rd February