Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Puss in Boots: The Last Wish!

Original image located here. Accessed 16th June 2023

So we arrive here: As promised it is time to see if this is cracked up as it was made out to be.

And what do you know? It delivered and then some. Sure I had the slight advantage as I didn't have to wait a full decade between seeing this and it's predecessor, but this truly was a gem.
In a previous post, I may have slammed the Shrek movies for introducing a formula that many have tried to replicate since - and like any formula it can only go for so long before it gets tiresome. But I don't get that impression here: Much like it's predecessor, it breaks away from the formula to say something of it's own.
And that something is one that refuses to talk down to it's audiences and is unafraid to talk about major themes - particularly that of living life that wasn't wasted. Which is big deal given this is a movie staring a spanish-accented tabby with boots and a big hat.
The highlights for me are the Wolf and the quality of animation. Sure it reeks of the same techniques that the Spiderverse movies worked with but it is interesting to see Dreamworks take an approach of 'I can do that too'. One would think it would be derivative but that the animators made wonders out of what they were working with is truly astonishing.
So yes, once again the further Puss divorces itself from the Shrek formula, the better the final product is.

Puss in Boots

And this week's Friday Night movie has been... Puss in Boots!

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd June 2023

I've been hearing good things about the latest Puss in Boots movie (Last Wish) so I may as well take a look at it's predecessor as a primer.
So what do I think of Shrek? I enjoyed the first two movies but I avoided what came after once it became clear this was a franchise that was going to be run into the ground. Furthermore, it seemed to me that the first one introduced a formula for success that many other movies in it's wake have sought to replicate. Also the jabs at Disney in the first movie are looking quite antiqued now.
So you can imagine my scepticism when returning to this particular franchise.

But I think the distance did me some good: I had a great time with this. It was a good move to make Puss the star of his own movie as there was a lot to the character and plenty to be added to him. It also helps that Antonio Banderas seems to having the time of his life in this role (and that is saying something given it's a voice role).
The humour certainly does seem to differ from the Shrek formula and is all the better for it. I don't know if that was the intention but this movie does suit the action/adventure format anyway.
So yeah great fun. Puss is as dynamic as ever and Kitty makes for a fun addition.
Now about the sequel....