Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

August 28, 2023 11:34 AM

[TRAIILER] When Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) 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.

Also starring Salma Hayek Pinault, Harvey Guillén, Wagner Moura, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, John Mulaney, Da'Vine Joy Randolph.

Directed by Joel Crawford. Written by Paul Fisher, Tommy Swerdlow.

95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

JustWatch.

posted by DirtyOldTown (19 comments total)

This is a sequel that no one was waiting for, that came out 12 years after a spinoff that no one asked for, to a film series that most of us have, in the years following its last installment, mostly agreed was pretty bad, actually.

There is no reason for it to be this good. None at all.

They did not have to come this hard, but they did. Delightful.

I mean, Florence Pugh is in this. Flo don't miss, y'all. Olivia Colman is in this. Sarah Caroline Sinclair CBE does not miss y'all.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:36 AM on August 28, 2023 [10 favorites]

Surprisingly a good time!
posted by mrphancy at 11:40 AM on August 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

I was really impressed by this one. I don't have the vocabulary for the proper terms for it, but there was a *lot* of neat stuff going on with the animation style they switched to for the fights. The frame rate seemed to slow down into a more intentionally strobe-lit style & there were distinct movement lines! sticking around long enough to distinctly/consciously register!

Opening with a Shadow of the Colossus-style fight? Fantastic!
And then the through-line of the wolf... haunting stuff.

Agreed, no reason it had to go for the brass ring as much as it did, but I'm glad that it did.
posted by CrystalDave at 2:46 PM on August 28, 2023 [4 favorites]

It’s About a YouTuber with Cancer - a vlogbrothers review
posted by chrisulonic at 3:55 PM on August 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

My son insisted we watch this. I had no interest, but he’s almost 15 and almost never wants to see animation so what the heck.

I was incorrect. This was worth the time. I especially loved how the animation shifted for the fight scenes. Really well done.
posted by Mchelly at 4:34 PM on August 28, 2023 [6 favorites]

I've heard nothing but good things about this and probably could be convinced to seek it out, but can anybody tell those of us who haven't bothered with the others whether it's essential to watch the first two Puss in Boots movies first? Because that'd probably be a deal killer for me..
posted by Nerd of the North at 9:00 PM on August 28, 2023

I didn't bother with the others (my understanding of the series left off where it spun off from the Shrek timeline), and found it perfectly comprehensible. It opens with a song that tells you all the most important details about Puss in Boots, and you can go from there.
posted by CrystalDave at 9:03 PM on August 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks. For anyone else in the same boat - from what I can tell there appears to be only one preceding Puss in Boots spin-off movie, not two as I had thought.
posted by Nerd of the North at 9:06 PM on August 28, 2023

Mchelly... same! My kiddo is 15 and loved this and insisted to me how great it was and I had to watch it. So we watched it together and he was right. Just a really fun, touching, and well done movie.
posted by kokaku at 11:17 AM on August 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

I was doing my favorite thing on planes and watching somebody else's screen even though I have my own. I noticed this teenager watching the opening scene, and even without any audio, just watching the animation of that fight scene made me want to watch it once I got off the plane. I totally agree with DirtyOldTown-- I can't believe how good it is.
posted by thewumpusisdead at 1:07 PM on August 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

The overall story is fairly standard Dreamworks "a spiky loner learns to be vulnerable" fare, but the movie stands as an incredible demonstration of how a stylish and opinionated presentation can absolutely elevate an arguably-nothing-too-special story into something really cool and enjoyable. I really liked this, and honestly am a little shocked there wasn't already a FanFare post for it!
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:26 PM on August 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

I’m really glad this was posted and there are so many positive comments—I never would have looked at this but just watched it tonight and it was utterly delightful. The Jimmy Stewart locust! That killed me. I really needed something like it, and I loved the fight scene animation changes. And what a voice cast! Thank you all for bringing it to my attention.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 10:18 PM on August 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

My wife wanted to watch this, as she liked the first one many years ago when she watched it with one of our nieces. She put it on, I sat back and was tremendously surprised. I'm usually not a fan of Hollywood star-studded voice-acted kid cartoons. I rarely even watch Pixar flicks anymore. But this was just very, very good. I liked everything about it. The story surprised me and kept me guessing, the characters were fun, textured and compelling, the art was beautiful, the bad guy was actually scary, and yes, the Hollywood voice acting was great, too. I loved this movie.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:35 AM on August 30, 2023

We watched this a few weeks ago. Loved it. We also enjoyed the 2011 Puss in Boots movie, but I think The Last Wish was the better movie. I'd watch both of them again, and probably will.
posted by jzb at 8:48 AM on August 30, 2023

I watched this with my husband a few weeks back. We really loved it. Such a great story, and the opening song is fantastic. Loved the Old Lady's House of Cats, the dog, Goldilocks and her nontraditional family, the map that changes depending on who is looking at it, the Wolf, all of it. We'd only seen the first one, a hundred years ago, but we'd heard such good things about it and it was an absolute joy.
posted by ceejaytee at 10:08 AM on August 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

I really enjoyed this, and at least animation-wise, it is the best thing to come out of the Shrek-verse or whatever you want to call it. Particularly since Into the Spider-verse came out, animation teams have really started to explore new dynamic styles and it's been amazing. I can't really talk to specifics, as my mind is a slog without a rewatch, but this film is on my buy list. Probably sometime in the next six months I'll grab it.
posted by Atreides at 10:40 AM on August 30, 2023

Glad to see the love here.

One of the small things that I loved was that Poppa Bear was Ray Winstone at his Winstonest, which was a treat in and of itself, but he was more of a big ol' softie than the heavy.

And I love Olivia Colman so much that even just her voice makes me swoon.

And Antonio Banderas has been genius in the role from the get.
posted by whuppy at 10:42 AM on August 30, 2023 [3 favorites]

The Jimmy Stewart locust!

Listed in the credits as “Ethical Bug”
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:29 PM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Jimmy Stewart *Cricket.*

geddit?

Entire film was superb.
posted by Faintdreams at 12:21 PM on January 30 [1 favorite]