{"id":1782689,"date":"2022-12-21T08:02:35","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T13:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1782689"},"modified":"2022-12-21T10:48:50","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T15:48:50","slug":"puss-in-boots-the-last-wish-is-the-antonio-banderas-show-and-little-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/puss-in-boots-the-last-wish-is-the-antonio-banderas-show-and-little-else\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish\u201d Is the Antonio Banderas Show (And Little Else)"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpuss-in-boots-the-last-wish-is-the-antonio-banderas-show-and-little-else%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1782689&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/puss-in-boots-last-wish-review-2.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>One of the joys of catching up with the title characters of \u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish\u201d is revisiting the perfect synergy of the title character and Antonio Banderas in the lead vocal performance.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When the character popped up in the wildly successful but middle of the road \u201cShrek 2\u201d (2004), it allowed for some welcome scene stealing that was too much for a flimsy sequel.<\/p>\n<p>Once Banderas was given full reign of the role and provided his own vehicle, the actor and character went to town and doused the audience with catnip. Seriously, if you haven\u2019t seen \u201cPuss in Boots\u201d since its run in 2011, it\u2019s not just better than you remembered but superior to the entire \u201cShrek\u201d franchise it spun off from.<\/p>\n<p>The first true Puss in Boots sequel is being released belatedly (more on that later) and falls somewhat short from the first vehicle, but it has enough going for it and is an ideal family offering for the holiday season.<\/p>\n<p>Also, for cat lovers, there\u2019s no resisting the sight of the title character sitting alone at a bar, hungrily licking from a tall glass of la leche.<\/p>\n<p>The sequel begins with Banderas\u2019 Puss in Boots tearing into a Goliath-like villain, easily overcoming an opponent with swashbuckling and swoon-worthy precision. Seriously, only Banderas could play this role \u2013 Dreamworks had better not think of ever recasting this part.<\/p>\n<p>Puss in Boots is suddenly made aware of his mortality, as he\u2019s down to the last of his nine lives (a montage of how the first eight expired is hilarious). Worse still, Death is upon him and appears to be the one foe he can\u2019t overcome.<\/p>\n<p>A quest for an extension of his mortal expiration date leads Puss in Boots to team up with a former love (voiced by Salma Hayek) and an odd little dog in need of a family unit as much as the title character.<\/p>\n<p>The plot is overly busy, with some of the supporting characters not generating as much narrative spark as one would hope. Case in point: in pursuit of the heroes are Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the three bears (one of which is voiced by Olivia Colman).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/CmRyWYyJFuS\/?utm_source=ig_embed&#038;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Despite the voice talent involved, the characters don\u2019t elevate the film the way, for example, John Lithgow stole long stretches of the first and best \u201cShrek\u201d (2001).<\/p>\n<p>A character who, I suspect, will create mild controversy is Jack Horner, voiced by John Mulaney. Why? The character resembles a political cartoon caricature of a certain former U.S. President (You know, the one from \u201cHome Alone 2: Lost in New York\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>Considering the long production and delayed release of this film, it\u2019s imaginable that the character might have generated headlines had the film been released (at one point, it was scheduled to open in 2018). Now, it feels like a dated reference (and Mulaney\u2019s vocal performance doesn\u2019t lean into a specific caricature).<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s intended as subversive political satire in a children\u2019s film, then the end result is tame, as the character feels more like extra baggage than the film needs.<\/p>\n<p>Far better is the inclusion of Death, who stalks and terrorizes Puss in Boots; the intensity of the character is enough to me suggest parents see this first before taking their youngest to the theater. Unlike the aforementioned Jack Horner, Death has real teeth; the final battle between Puss in Boots and Death is truly thrilling, the film at its creative peak.<\/p>\n<p>Otherwise, there are too many subplots and the added sidekick of Perritio, a needy and sweet therapy dog, is hit and miss; I like how the dog is clearly meant to be a Sancho Panzo to Boot\u2019s Don Quixote but the character isn\u2019t consistently funny.<\/p>\n<p>The animation style often leans towards the anime-enhancement scene in the fantastic \u201cSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,\u201d though the visual approach is most often reminiscent of a video game.<\/p>\n<p>Scenes of a map layout and views of characters running and hopping away have the look of gameplay. Thankfully, the film is always visually arresting, even when it looks like a video game promo.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/ferngully-review-1992\/\"><strong>RELATED: \u2018FERNGULLY\u2019 \u2013 WHEN ANIMATION TRUMPED MESSAGING<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The first \u201cPuss in Boots\u201d was funnier and had a stronger focus as it told a grand story. Despite being overly busy and not always a slam dunk, \u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish\u201d is better than one would expect from a long-delayed sequel to a franchise that seemed to have peaked a decade ago.<\/p>\n<p>I hope Banderas (the film\u2019s VIP and, as always, so enjoyable to listen to) and his swashbuckling feline make last return. For now, \u201cThe Last Wish\u201d is an enjoyable time for family Christmas moviegoing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Two and a Half Stars<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the joys of catching up with the title characters of \u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish\u201d is revisiting the perfect synergy of the title character and Antonio Banderas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1782692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[10863,6962,10847,10861,10862,5458,10860,8073,3995,4532,3819,5830,10864],"class_list":["post-1782689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-puss","tag-the","tag-and","tag-antonio","tag-banderas","tag-bongino","tag-boots","tag-else","tag-last","tag-little","tag-report","tag-show","tag-wish"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1782689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1782692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1782689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1782689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1782689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}