I got myself a month’s worth of Peacock to watch the Superbowl this year, for reasons I will not get into, and as the month ran out, I figured I might as well knock out a couple movies I had missed for one reason or another. As it is, the two I selected were animated features, the first of which was the second Puss in Boots movie. Now, I haven’t seen the first and, to be frank, have really only seen most of the original Shrek movies. That said, cultural osmosis told me everything I really needed to know about Puss’s whole deal, so I wasn’t too worried about missing anything.
Besides, I knew enough about The Last Wish to know it was actually a pretty damn good movie all on its own, even potentially surpassing the original.
Puss (voice of Antonio Banderas) has gotten himself into quite a bit of trouble, taking over a local governor’s palace while said governor is out of town. That includes waking and then defeating a giant, but an accident kills Puss. Not to worry: cats have nine lives. OK, maybe there is cause to worry because Puss’s reckless living means he’s already used up eight of them, and when a mysterious wolf bounty hunter (Wagner Moura) proves too good in a fight for Puss to defeat, he decides to give up the adventuring life and live with an elderly cat lady (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) where the other cats don’t talk or respect Puss, but a lone Chihuahua dog without a name though later dubbed Perrito (Harvey Guillén) seems intent on being both a therapy dog and Puss’s friend.
Now, it just so happens that a “wishing star” landed in the dark forest, and lots of folks are looking for it to make one wish. Puss can get another set of nine lives if he can just get to it first. Of course, he’s not the only one looking for it. There’s his former love Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), a skilled adventurer in her own right. There’s Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, and Samson Kayo), a crime family where the family might be the most crucial element. And then there’s Big Jack Horner (John Mulaney) a hoarder of magical objects who wants all magic to himself, and he doesn’t care how many of his assistants or adversaries have to die to get it. And there’s still that wolf, and he might not be what he appears to be.
Actually, I went into this one knowing the wolf’s whole deal thanks to cultural osmosis, and it didn’t really affect my enjoyment of the movie that much. I also went into this one knowing the animation took it up a couple notches from the first one despite not seeing the first one. And, quite frankly, I had a good time with this one. Jack Horner is a delightfully evil bastard while the Bears all had nice personalities that tempered adopted daughter Goldilocks. Perrito’s a fine character too, the therapy dog that actually provides good therapy and is rather oblivious to how much people don’t like him.
But really, this is Puss’s movie, and he does have a character arc here that is the sort of thing I always appreciate in a children’s movie. It’s not enough for Puss to realize he shouldn’t be after the wish as he is looking for it out of completely selfish reasons. Instead, it’s the sort of movie where appreciation for life beyond selfish gratification is he central idea, and yeah, that works better with friends and other loved ones. Is that revolutionary? On its own, no, but given what Puss is really running from as he struggles with what looks like PTSD. But between the wolf and the animation and the sheer creativity on display, it becomes more than the basic concept, and yeah, it was as good as I had heard.
Grade: A-
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