Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Directed by Joel Crawford
Screenplay by Paul Fisher & Tommy Swerdlow
Story by Tommy Swerdlow & Tom Wheeler
Based on Puss in Boots by Giovanni Francesco Straparola
Produced by Mark Swift
Edited by James Ryan
Music by Heitor Pereira
Production company DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Voices:
Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots, a swashbuckling cat fugitive from the law and a hero of San Ricardo who lost eight of his nine lives.[5]
Salma Hayek Pinault as Kitty Softpaws, a street-savvy Tuxedo cat who is Puss’ female counterpart and love interest.[6][7]
Harvey Guillén as Perrito, a therapy dog who started out as one of Mama Luna’s pet cats, because he disguised himself as a cat.[6]
Florence Pugh as Goldilocks, the leader of the Three Bears Crime Family who wants to get the Last Wish in order to use it to regain her biological family.[8]
Kailey Crawford as Young Goldi
Olivia Colman as Mama Bear[6]
Ray Winstone as Papa Bear[6]
Samson Kayo as Baby Bear[6]
John Mulaney as “Big” Jack Horner, a feared pastry chef and crime lord who plans to reach the Wishing Star. He holds various magical items, creatures and people ever since he was snubbed of fairy-tale fame.[8]
Wagner Moura as Wolf / Death, the physical embodiment who takes the form of a white wolf in a black hooded cloak.[8]
Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mama Luna, an elderly cat lady who initially takes Puss in.
Anthony Mendez as the doctor who tells Puss to retire after informing him of his eight deaths.
Kevin McCann as the Ethical Bug (a parody of the Talking Cricket[9])
Bernardo De Paula as the Governor of del Mar
Betsy Sodaro and Artemis Pebdani as the Serpent Sisters who deliver the map to Jack Horner.
Conrad Vernon as Gingy
Cody Cameron as Pinocchio
I was hoping that the sequel to Puss in Boots would be as good as the original. It isn’t.
It’s better.
For Puss in Boots II: The Last Wish they brought back most of the people who wrote, drew and plotted the first movie, and critically, brought back Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek for the two main characters, Puss and Kitty Softpaws. That promised a decent sequel.
The basic plot line is more convoluted, with Puss coming to grips with his own mortality, his weakness when it comes to empathy or commitment, and his need for adulation. There is a heist/quest element, with the MacGuffin being sought by four rival groups. There is also Death, portrayed by The Big Bad Wolf. The death figure, terrifying as he is, actually isn’t the big bad in this movie. That one is even worse.
Oh, and there is Ethical Bug. He is, as described, a bug, similar to a grasshopper. He tries to remind Jack Horner of the moral and proper things to do. He doesn’t have much luck in this regard. I think of him being voiced by Jiminy Stewart. The Jiminy part should be obvious, and his voice (Kevin McCann) is that of screen legend Jimmy Stewart.
As you may have gathered, there is a melange of fairy-tale characters in this. Not surprising, as it is part of the Shrek franchise.
There’s Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They raided England’s top talents for this (Kailey Crawford as Young Goldi, Olivia Colman as Mama Bear, Ray Winstone as Papa Bear, and Samson Kayo as Baby Bear). Goldilocks will remind the viewer a lot of Julia Garner’s brilliant Ruth Langmore from the Ozark series—both in attitude and in hair. Because this is a family-oriented film, two of Ruth’s most dominant features are considerably muted in Goldi, but anyone familiar with both characters will fill in the blanks. (There is one scene where the least likely character unleashes a tidal wave of profanity and vituperation, or so I assume as it’s nearly all bleeped out. I’m sure it was worthy of Ruth Langmore, though.)
Jack Horner. Not such a good boy am he. He wracks up a considerable body count, mostly through abuse of his own gang members.
Death takes a page from Cape Fear and Trollhunters by announcing his presence by whistling a distinct, spine-chilling tune from off-camera. That’s a remarkably effective horror ploy.
The dialogue, action, and characters are all first rate, and even the utter dirtbag characters have their own sleazy charm. The baddies don’t just cackle maniacally and monologue their own plans to death; they actually kill off others, or at least try to. This isn’t Bowdlerized Disney fare.
Most of the characters evolve and develop as they play off one another, Puss and Kitty (Hayek) in particular. There was a pretty good TV series based on Puss in Boots a few years back (still on Netflix) and it showed why that character pretty much had to evolve from the vainglorious and shallow libertine if he wanted to sustain audience interest. That growth made the series worth watching, and it adds to the many virtues of Puss in Boots II.
It’s implied at the end that Puss and Kitty will travel to the land of Far, Far Away, where, it may be surmised, they may breath fresh life into the somewhat shopworn Shrek franchise.
Now in theaters, or available to rent at Amazon Prime.