Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Directed by Joel Crawford
Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll: He has burned through eight of his nine lives, leaving him with only one life left. Puss sets out on an epic journey to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives.
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4 films that influenced Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
What critics say influenced Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
It’s a brilliant fusion of 3D CGI animation with 2D concepts in a beautiful storybook style reminiscent of films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , Klaus , and The Bad Guys .
The most obvious upgrade from the previous film is in the animation, which takes inspiration from a number of sources but is most obviously reminiscent of the innovations pioneered in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse .
It was more of a sketchy comic book-like blend of 2D and 3D visual aesthetics that evokes the distinctive look and feel of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018).
It’s a film that’s as kinetic as the recent Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but with even more nods to classical painting and traditional anime techniques.
This inspired effort continues into the animation, which clearly takes inspiration from the work of 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Think of it as an expansion of the concept presented in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
And before you can say “pray for mercy…” Puss is back in the saddle, joined by his old flame Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and a new canine pal named Perro (voiced by “What We Do in the Shadows” alum Harvey Guillén - who is quite terrific), an adorable pup who doesn’t possess a single negative thought and is the absolute cutest.
But when Puss catches wind of a fallen star capable of granting a wish, he sets off with Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and a tiny dog named Perrito ( What We Do in the Shadows ’ Harvey Guillén) to seize the opportunity.
Puss also reluctantly winds up with a sidekick, a scruffy chihuahua (Harvey Guillén, What We Do in the Shadows ) with a sunnier outlook on life than anyone with his backstory should have.
He buries his trademark costume– feeling he is no longer worthy– and joins Mama Luna’s (Da’Vine Joy Randolph of Dolemite is My Name ) rescue house to seek obscurity interrupted often by a discarded clinger dog (Harvey Guillén of What We Do in the Shadows ).
In his version of retirement, Puss ends up in a type of old cats’ home run by the kindly Mama Luna (Da’vine Joy Randolph), where he meets an overly excited dog disguised as a cat, named Perrito ( What We Do in the Shadows ’ Harvey Guillen, a great new addition to this universe), who seems all too eager to become Puss’s new best (and very clingy) friend.
2010 gave us the emotional thrillride of How to Train Your Dragon and 2011 had Kung Fu Panda 2 , a martial arts odyssey bursting with imagination that asserted director Jennifer Yuh Nelson as a top-tier action director (even if Hollywood never made good on it).
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” marks DWA’s best film since the “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy, reflecting some of the lessons learned on that series, including the notion that cartoon characters get a lot more interesting if they’re not immortal.
In terms of overall quality, this is on par with the original Shrek and the How to Train Your Dragon movies when it comes to showcasing the innovation happening over at Dreamworks.
Imagine Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as an animated film and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is exactly what it would look like.