It’s been over a decade since the last full-length Puss inBoots film and this one subtitled The Last Wish doesn’t disappoint.
Directed for maximum family appeal with a shake-up in tone and animation from familiar characters drawn from its studio’s delightful forbearer Shrek, this computer-animated comedy-adventure is fun not to mention rather funny.
The voice-cast is led again by the suave swaggering intonations of Antonio Banderas (The Mask of Zorro) and he has good support from the likes of Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Harvey Guiillen, but notably Salma Hayek as returning alluring Kitty Softpaws and Florence Pugh as a noticeably merciless Goldilocks.
Yes, the narrative may not be that imaginative as Puss is on the last of his nine lives, but it has some enjoyable ‘twists’ on convention – here the chase for a fallen celestial object that would benefit the slyly clandestine fedora-clad feline.
The backgrounds and livelier scenes get their heft from an amine with staccato and choppiness to work with ‘movement lines’ and receding hues. The Last Wish doesn’t rely on the tried-and-true pop culture references but well-devised situational comedy. Being on the run with Three Bars, a mangy Chihuahua posing as a cat, Big Jack Horner, and the Big Bad Wolf has a giddy dynamism with a special map in the Dark Forest.
Banderas and the filmmakers offer a surprising holiday treat in a stand-alone feature that easily equals its predecessor with its followers wishing for more snappy, stylings with augmented imager in more lives for this spiffy spin-of.