54. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish; movie review

 

PUSS IN BOOTS - THE LAST WISH

Cert PG

102 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild violence, threat, scary scenes, language, rude humour

"I am Puss in Boots, loved by one and all!"

The famous cat's words certainly translate to cinema audiences - because the public and critics are agreed that this sequel is a swashbuckling success.

And, while I fear its themes about death might be a bit dark for young ones, there is no doubt that his sword has found its mark at the box office.

It may be 18 years since Antonio Banderas first voiced Puss in Shrek 2 and 12 years since his first solo outing but he still has enough zing to carry a half-term movie.

The premise of Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado's is that full-of-himself Puss is brought down a peg when he is told that he has used up eight of his nine lives.

Thus, he accepts his lot and drifts off to an old cats' home 

Until Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the three bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman and Samson Kayo) emerge with a story of a wishing star.

Inevitably, he takes the bait and, along with a new canine friend (Harvey Guillén) and an old love (Salma Hayek) he goes in search of the chance to get himself back on top.

Standing in his way are a killer wolf (Wagner Moura) and a very scary and rather large Jack Horner (John Mulaney).

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish will please children because it is fast-paced from the opening scenes in which Puss literally plays to the crowd.

His dog pal brings in most of the humour and his old flame adds some pathos, it is also a very colourful film.

My only question is whether the consistent theme of death might be a bit much for little ones.

But my guess is that kids will love it.

Reasons to watch: Clever and amusing

Reasons to avoid: A little bit dark for young ones

Laughs: Three

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? The oldest written telling of Puss In Boots is by Italian author Giovanni Francesco Straparola in his The Facetious Nights of Straparola.

The final word. Antonio Banderas: "I've been with Puss for 20 years, firstly with the Shrek series and then with himself, and what surprised me when I read this script was how daring the studio was to reflect on very existentialist problems. It was examining life itself right after the pandemic in which the kids have been victims, too, in a way." Forbes

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