He glances at himself and remarks "You are too good-looking to retire." So says Puss in Boots in the newest extension of the SHREK franchise, PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. The arrogant cat who fancies himself "...a fearless hero. A legend," is once again voiced by actor Antonio Banderas.
When I moved to New York to accept a local TV job offer, one of the films I went to see was a foreign film. It was 1987's LAW OF DESIRE, written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar and starring Antonio Banderas in the sexy comedy thriller. I instantly became an Antonio Banderas fan and have been one ever since. Almodóvar seems to crystallize the best in Banderas the way Ingmar Bergman did with Liv Ullmann, the way Vincente Minnelli did with Judy Garland and the way Martin Scorsese has done with Robert De Niro. Hollywood, in my opinion, has yet to deploy fully the talents of Banderas the way the Spanish filmmaker and Banderas' home turf have. His Puss In Boots character in the SHREK adventures is a wonderful release for his comedy talents. Banderas hails from Málaga, Spain.
In PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, the swashbuckling cat has swashed so many buckles that he's used up 8 of his 9 nine lives. He's desperate to retrieve them. To do that, he must enter the Dark Forest and find the Wishing Star.
Along the way, he'll have to deal with a bounty hunter wolf, fend off the Three Bears, and reunite with Kitty Softpaws with whom he has some romantic history. Puss will also encounter other nursery rhyme, story book and fairy tale characters.
We're at the season in which school kids will be home for Christmas vacation. If I had kids and I wanted to take them to the movies while they're home for vacation, I would definitely take them to see PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. They'd love it -- and I'd dig it too. It's action-packed, clever, funny and the animation is fabulous. Its production design is like gourmet eye-candy. And there's some snappy music in this feature. I had fun watching Puss having to learn a lesson in humility in order to get some of his life back.
This a good, colorful family entertainment. Salma Hayek supplies the voice for Kitty Softpaws, Oscar winner Olivia Colman is the voice of Mama Bear and Da'Vine Joy Randolph is a hoot as she voices Mama Luna. Banderas is in fine form as Puss and he can be heard on the soundtrack singing "Fearless Hero." Yes, Antonio Banderas sings. In fact, he produced and starred in a production of the Stephen Sondheim musical, COMPANY, in Spain. He played Bobby (Robert). The Spanish cast recording of COMPANY, starring Banderas, is now available.
PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH runs 1 hour 40 minutes and opens December 21st.
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