Adventuring Back into the World with "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"

Oh hello!

I mentioned in my recent resolutions post that I've happily already had the pleasure of watching a bunch of movies in 2023.  I'd love to write a few posts about some of those movies before new Child is here, so to start let's talk about one of them!

Yesterday I went back to a movie theater for the first time since the pandemic began.  It was at once such an everyday-seeming thing and also an incredibly meaningful thing, especially since I was able to go to one of my two favorite local theaters.  

This is one of the two theaters from which I bought movie tickets the day the local COVID-19 shutdowns began because I foresaw the possibility that the shutdowns would be much longer than the initially projected two weeks, and I was terrified those beloved theaters would close down for good.  Of course one or two extra tickets sold wouldn't make a life-or-death difference for a movie theater, but these institutions are so precious to me and I wanted them to know that their patrons would look out for them as best they could.  And here this theater is, having survived.

And what fine cinematic masterwork did I choose for my first foray back into the movie-watching public?

None other than:

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

When deciding what to see, there were three factors I considered:

1. Was the movie playing at one of the two aforementioned theaters? 
2. Was the movie playing at a time that accommodated my dog's grooming appointment?
3. Was it a movie I was in the mood to see given the extremely close proximity to my forthcoming Child's birth?

I've essentially already explained why criterion 1 was important: After almost three full years of longing to return to movie theaters, of course I would want to go to one of my two favorites.

The second was simple practicality: In addition to partaking in cinema, yesterday was the grand crescendo of our nesting-induced cleaning of all the things, which included orchestrating a simultaneous professional deep clean of our house and professional deep clean (aka grooming with deshedding) of our beloved dog.

Care of Hyperbole and a Half

Everything is now SPARKLING.

And finally, the third criterion speaks to the fact that while there are movies currently out that I would be very tempted to see under different circumstances, I didn't want to risk putting myself in a weird emotional headspace *right* before having a baby.

So I saw "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish", because it checked those three boxes, had such remarkably high ratings that it was almost perplexing, and had been affirmed to be a good movie by a friend.

And: I thought it was delightful!  It's funny and charming, and the vocal performances are very well-delivered.  The animation overall is really great, including action sequences have an appealingly slightly herky-jerky comic book feel to them reminiscent of sequences in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" (2018).  The movie has overall sweet and healthy messages about the importance of friendship and chosen family, trust, and overcoming fears.  The cast is diverse and the script incorporates a decent amount of Spanish, and that inclusivity further enhances the story.  The film is paced well and packs in lots of fun twists and turns for its relatively brief (and therefore both child-friendly and punctually-picking-up-dog-from-groomer-compatible) runtime of 1 hours and 42 minutes.

I should also probably note that I haven't been a dedicated viewer of movies in the "Shrek" (2001) franchise, having only seen the first and second (2004) movies, so it's perfectly possible that my relative naiveté about these movies influences how I experienced this one.  I almost certainly missed allusions to events in the previous Puss in Boots movies (2011 and 2012), for example.

I have only two complaints with the latest "Puss in Boots": First, it's a bit scary for children.  The premise of this film is that Antonio Banderas's titular Puss is down to the last of his nine lives, and is being actively pursued by Wagner Moura's bounty hunter (or is he?) Big Bad Wolf.  In stark contrast to his typical bravado, Puss experiences these encounters with sheer and palpable terror.  These moments are very effective for their drama and emotional impact, but so much so that I would be concerned about very little kids watching this movie.

My second complaint is an age-old pet peeve of mine about children's movies that make jokes that are not intended to be understood by or appropriate for children.  I'm remembering this was a factor that irritated me about the original "Shrek", so I'm not surprised that this trend continues to some extent in the franchise's newest chapter.  To be fair, there aren't a ton of these kinds of jokes in "The Last Wish" (there are a few bleepings of the business end of the term "bullshit", for example), but to me these moments always beg the question of why?  Why can't you just write jokes that everyone in the audience can enjoy, especially when you are explicitly making a children's movie?  To do otherwise just seems cheap, lazy, and a bit mean-spirited or disrespectful toward kids--the film equivalent of clapping your hands over a child's ears so they can't hear a spicy segment of a conversation between adults.  Who wants that when you're watching a movie that's supposed to be for you?

All that said, this was overall a very successful and charming movie, and I'm glad it was a part of my post-pandemic transition more fully into the world.  I gave the film a 4.

{Heart}