{"id":56627,"date":"2022-12-26T15:15:33","date_gmt":"2022-12-26T20:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=56627"},"modified":"2022-12-26T15:15:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T20:15:38","slug":"puss-in-boots-the-last-wish-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2022\/12\/puss-in-boots-the-last-wish-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Puss in Boots: The Last Wish \u2013 Movie Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Bob Garver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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            We were first introduced to dashing animated feline Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) in \u201cShrek 2\u201d all the way back in 2004. The character appeared in two more \u201cShrek\u201d sequels before headlining his own self-titled movie in 2011. Now comes \u201cThe Last Wish,\u201d a sequel that depends on audiences still caring about the character after more than a decade out of the limelight. The film\u2019s disappointing box office over Christmas weekend ($17 million domestic, barely half of what the first solo film did on Halloween weekend in 2011) indicates that he no longer has his former drawing power. But having seen the film, I say that he should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The new film opens with a classic Puss in Boots adventure: Puss throws a party at the home of an uptight governor and saves a village from a rampaging cyclops. Things are going great until he gets killed. End of movie. Just kidding, he\u2019s a cat, he has nine lives. Problem is, that was life number eight. If he gets killed one more time, he\u2019ll die. After a close call with an apparently-bounty-hunting wolf (Wagner Moura), he decides to retire to the home of a cat hoarder (Da\u2019Vine Joy Randolph). A life of pet food and litter boxes isn\u2019t for him, and he\u2019s further annoyed by an unsuccessful therapy dog (Harvey Guillen) hiding out among the cats. He\u2019s soon clued-in to a race to steal the mythical Wishing Star, which grants a single wish to whoever can get to it first. He can wish for his nine lives back! He could also wish for unlimited lives, but the point is \u2013 magical quest! It\u2019s a magical quest where he has to drag along the clingy therapy dog, but a quest nonetheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Also in pursuit of the star are former lover and current rival Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), pie magnate and magic collector Big Jack Horner (John Mulaney), and the Goldilocks and the Three Bears Crime Family, consisting of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh), Papa Bear (Ray Winstone), Mama Bear (Olivia Coleman), and Baby Bear (Samson Kayo). Goldilocks and the Three Bears have such a fun dynamic and chemistry that I\u2019d like to see them get their own spinoff. Sadly that\u2019s unlikely with this film\u2019s underperformance, but what we get of them here is delightful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            What we get of everyone here is delightful. The cast is filled with actors that are funny every time they open their mouths. This is especially true of Banderas, who exaggerates his voice so much that I was laughing even when he was delivering straight lines. The writing is funny too, with some endearingly dark humor. The highlight of the film is a montage of Puss\u2019s deaths, handled in a family-friendly, \u201cHaunted Mansion\u201d sort of way. The therapy dog steals the show, with his unbridled positivity in the face of a lifetime of bullying. Real bullying isn\u2019t funny, the character\u2019s attitude in spite of bullying is. And it should go without saying in a movie about animated cats and dogs, but the film\u2019s cuteness level is raging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish\u201d may not be the strongest of adventure movies. The characters\u2019 motivations don\u2019t always make sense (too many are frustratingly unambitious with their wishes), the story follows predictable beats of reluctant alliances, betrayals, and forgiveness, and the animation has a weird habit of turning into a cheap 2-D style during action sequences. But it works just fine as a comedy, and a family comedy at that. By all means take the kids and relatives to see it this holiday season. It\u2019s implied that there\u2019s a sequel with some familiar friends on the horizon, but this movie needs your business first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grade: B<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish\u201d is rated PG for action\/violence, rude humor\/language, and some scary moments. Its running time is 100 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bob Garver             We were first introduced to dashing animated feline Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) in \u201cShrek 2\u201d all the way back in 2004. The character appeared in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":56628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[2030],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56627"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56630,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56627\/revisions\/56630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}