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//VAGUE SPOILERS AHEAD//
Eleven years after the first Puss In Boots movie Dreamworks decided to make a sequel that barely references its origin. I don't blame them, after all, well, eleven years passed and there's a high probability that children that came to see this movie haven't even watched the first one, or the Shrek movies for that matter.
This movie does a great job at creating an organic universe, successfully combining the traditional Spain setting with the fairy tales tropes and characters, and driving away from the parodic tone of the Shrek movies, referencing its characters only as anecdotal flashbacks. Basically, it brings all together with great cohesion.
The first movie by comparison did not achieve this. There was no connection with the Shrek events, and the more realistic visual style and traditional Spain setting hardly matched with the more fantastical elements of the film. I mean, Shrek also had a kind of realistic visual style, but then again, it did so for parodical purposes. In this movie, it feels like Puss finally achieved a visual style and tone for its own.
The animation style obviously follows the trend started by Spiderverse of using 2d animation mixture and lower frame-rate at particular points, also done by Dreamworks latest movie The Bad Guys. Frankly the use of these resources add a lot to make the visual work stand out. Looking back at the trajectory of 3d animated cinema, itās surprising for how long mainstream movies didnāt apply things like 2d textures to emphasize actions. Particularly in this movie, I loved the use of 2d textures for flowers in Mama Lunaās garden. It looked so vibrant, the color work was fantastic too, in general. Furthermore, the use of lower frame-rate at the action scenes makes the single poses that compose the movements stand out and thus the actions become more striking. Sometimes the animators will also lower the characters frame-rate but keep it the same at the background generating a very cool sense of velocity and adrenaline. I also remember a particular shot in which we see a close up of Wolfās legs walking towards Puss in low frame rate, which had a cool looseness vibe. The one complain I would have with this technique is related to the scene in which Team Friendship, Jack Hornerās troop and the bear family all have a big fight at the Relax River. At the beginning of the action scene thereās like a general shot of the bakers and theyāre running in low frame rate, and like, thereās no perspective work or any specific shots so it looks a bit crappy. But apart from that, the animation work is creative, colorful, thoughtful, and it doesnāt feel derivative, but rather unique.
Going a bit into the writing aspect, this has to be one of the children films that most seriously treats the theme of death. Wolf is truly a scary character. I mean, I got scared by him, and Iām 21 years oldā¦ imagine a little kid watching this movie at the cinema. There will certainly be a whole generation of children having nightmares with the guy.
Apart from having a scary design, with a kind of square and long menacing snout, long real-life wolf legs, and intense red with black pupils eyes which contrast with the pale fur, there are a few interesting elements of Death which makes it a remarkable and charismatic character. For starters, he is not particularly malignant. He doesnāt want to kill Puss just because he is the bad guy; rather, he is profoundly disgusted by Pussā banal and conceited approach to existence. The fact that Wolf always gives Puss a chance to fight back and even plays with his pride to get him to do so is also interesting. Thereās a relationship of respect and challenge going on between the two thatās really cool.
Anyway, another point that makes Death scary is the fact that the movie never establishes what happens when characters die. There is no mention of an afterlife or reincarnations or anything of the sort, and there is a real sense of an actual and definitive ending whenever Puss is threatened by Wolf. Having this concept of absolute ending brought by the unbeatable entity that is Wolf is truly scary, in combination with all the physical and psychological processes Puss goes through whenever heās involved with these situations. Having these realistic panic reactions in a kidās movie is truly a bold move, more so with a character so brave and easy going as Puss.
In comparison with another movie from last year that treats the concept of life and death, Pinocchio: in that movie death is also treated with great gravity, but there is an explicit afterlife world: not a very bright or fun one for sure, but one nonetheless, in which certain characters can even walk and interact with others. In Puss In Boots, none of that is ever boarded.
Thereās also the fact that Wolf is not really defeated at the end, only prolonging the final and definitive encounter with him, because wellā¦ he is literally Death. That goodbye whistle is really ominousā¦
All of this thing of Puss accepting and confronting death, creating substantial relationships, and gaining authenticity is great stuff. Very Heideggerian if you ask me.
Sadly, the rest of the characters and their dilemmas arenāt nearly as interesting.
Jack Horner is a fun villain with a lot of presence and vitality. Kitty continues with the conflicts weāve seen in the first film related to trusting people and serves more to accentuate Pussā character development rather than being interesting on its own. Kitty, Puss and Perrito have a complementing dynamic thatās fun to watch. Goldilocks and the bear family are fine characters, with a very simple conflict and personally I didnāt care much about them.
This message of taking it easy, enjoying the little things and learning to love the ones you have around you is similar to the messages of other lately animated films such as Soul and Pinocchio. Thus is not the most innovative or revealing message but itās nice.
Overall Iād say Puss In Boots: The Last Wish is bold in some aspects, very creative, funny at lots of times, and genuinely enjoyable.
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Haciendo un par de comentarios sobre el doblaje al espaƱol del filme, me gustarĆa destacar la versatilidad emocional y tonal que maneja Antonio Banderas con su personaje. Realmente se lo siente cĆ³modo y a gusto con Ć©l. Lamentablemente no es tan buen cantante, pero creo que prefiero que su canto no suene del todo bien pero sea el Gato con Botas cantando a tener un cambio drĆ”stico en la voz del personaje. La decisiĆ³n mĆ”s llamativa del doblaje fue la de darle a Ricitos de Oro y su familia de osos acentos rioplatenses. En verdad, no hay lĆ³gica en que tengan ese tipo de acento ya que los personajes no son oriundos de una regiĆ³n parecida a la rioplatense, ni tampoco tienen caracterĆsticas tradicionalmente argentinas o uruguayas que digamos. De todos modos no tendrĆa problema con el acento de no ser porque no se siente muy natural. Francamente, me hace recordar un poco a los doblajes argentinos de las pelĆculas de Pixar. Mantienen esa cosa rara de usar palabras de espaƱol neutro con acento rioplatense, queda descolocado. En verdad, nunca se sienten como argentinos/uruguayos, se sienten como argentinos/uruguayos intentando hablar en neutro. Es raro. Igual aguante.
7/10
