The Existential Crisis of A Cartoon Cat (And How Puss in Boots Makes Us Care)

 Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish
directed by Joel Crawford

with the voices of Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh (Goldilocks), Olivia Colman (Mama Bear), Ray Winstone (Papa Bear), Samson Kayo (Baby Bear), John Mulaney (Jack Horner), Wagner Moura (Big Bad Wolf), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Mama Luna), and Anthony Mendez (doctor)

With only one life to live, how should we choose to live it? What should our legacy be? As we get older, how do we face down the fact that we can no longer do the things we used to, not only physically but emotionally? What -- and who -- makes life truly worth living? Is fame and the adulation of the many worth more than the love of a few in anonymity? Do we run from death, or face it head on? And even as we know that death is a certainty, can we still find joy in the time we have left? 

That sounds like a lot, and it is for an animated movie (I love animated movies, btw). But somehow the DreamWorks romp sequel Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish is both thought-provoking and rib-tickling. 

Animated movies have become so sophisticated over the last two decades that they seem better suited to adults than to children. That has certainly been true of the Shrek film series, which took sacred fairy tale characters and reimagined them as hilariously twisted adults with modern-day lifestyles and neuroses in a storybook setting that anybody who has cracked open a once-upon-a-time tale as a kid can easily recognize. In the brand-new animated feature Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the very adult issues of aging and mortality take center stage, and while this seems like a dark way to go, the writers still manage to create a delightful film with uplifting messages for kids and adults alike. 

One of the most engaging characters spun off from the Shrek franchise, Puss in Boots is the charmingly arrogant, devil-may-care, sword-wielding Spanish adventurer and bandit in feline form who starred in his own successful animated spinoff, 2011's Puss in Boots. That film introduced his origin story as a former orphan who got pulled into a complicated magic beans heist by his stepbrother Humpty Dumpty, an adventure with ever-increasing risks, a cast of twisted nursery rhyme characters, several double-crosses, and a few surprises, including flirtation with slinky cat burglar and nemesis Kitty Softpaws. 

After eleven years, Puss is back. As the film begins, he's older, but not necessarily wiser. Self-satisfied as a swashbuckling, guitar-strumming, milk-guzzling celebrity, Puss likes to party hard, boasting that he laughs in the face of death and has never been cut by a blade. When his revels awaken a township's sleeping giant, he defeats it with panache, only to be fatally flattened himself. Revived by the village vet-doctor-dentist-barber, Puss is informed that he, in fact, died. Puss laughs it off until the doc gives him and the audience a quick run-through of the many previous ways he's kicked the bucket -- some nobly, some carelessly, all hilarious -- and delivers the shocking news that he's down to the last of his nine lives and should probably retire. 

This is a rude awakening for the formerly fearless feline, who skulks off to a watering hole to drink away his problems only to have a spaghetti western-style run-in with his own personal Grim Reaper, the Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Maura). When he ends up uncharacteristically losing the fight, he scampers away with his life flashing before his eyes. Kids will instantly recognize the threat of a red-eyed, fang-toothed wolfen villain out to flatten the hero; they will no doubt experience the very real fear that a life-or-death situation invokes -- even for as dauntless as hero as Puss In Boots. 

But for adults, Puss's dilemma is much more existential. With his hooded cloak and twin scythes, the Big Bad Wolf is Death himself. Regardless of the vivid animation and fast flying jokes, the film finds Puss considering all of the questions about the meaning of life that every one of us eventually considers sooner or later: What should a life consist of?  And what happens when it starts drawing to a close? 

We watch in dismay as Puss's fear of the Big Bad Wolf causes him to literally bury his famous persona and hide out with crazy cat lady Mama Luna (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), eventually growing fat, grizzled, and depressed, while bedeviled by an endlessly cheerful chihuahua (Harvey Guillén). Only when he discovers that there is a magic fallen star that can restore his eight previous lives -- and that he must get to it before the merciless kingpin Jack Horner, greedy hoodlums-for-hire Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and even sexy rival Kitty Softpaws -- is Puss goaded back into action. And so his fantastical quest for the star -- and past glory -- begins. 

In storybook land, as in life, there are no quick fixes and the path to the fallen star is littered with stumbling blocks. The film gets more frenetic in its second half as all the characters vie for the magical map to the star for their own wishes and plunge into the Dark Forest, a fantastical land that is equally beautiful, nightmarish, and confusing to the viewer. Along the way, Puss must confront his ego, his past, his allegiances, and ultimately Death itself to regain his humanity (felinity?). 

Puss is voiced once more by the amazing Antonio Banderas, who in his zesty baritone Zorro accent balances Puss's arrogance and humor with a real sense of thoughtfulness and sensitivity. He is contrite as he confesses his failings to Kitty Softpaws, voiced once more by Salma Hayek Pinault (his co-star in 1995's Desperado and in 2002's Frida), humble as he learns to care for the blithe therapy dog wannabe he's named Perrito, and defiant as he faces down the Big Bad Wolf with a renewed measure of courage.

The relentlessly upbeat character of Perrito touched me. A tiny dog with a big heart, Perrito is the just-keep-swimming Dora of the story, the seemingly dizzy character who spouts the most wisdom. Perrito turns his experience as a nameless unloved pup who's been continuously abandoned, abused, and even thrown into a river to drown into a tale of not merely survival but celebration. Somehow I couldn't help thinking of all the children who are abused or thrown away by careless parents or guardians, children lost in the foster care system or living on the streets, teens abandoned by their families because of their sexuality. Only some of these children reach adulthood with their sense of humor and joie de vivre intact, who make their families where they find them, and take pleasure in the simple things. This is Perrito, who is determined to make friends of these cats and keep them, no matter how they malign him, and to help them find the Fallen Star with no designs on it himself. As such, Perrito is good for goodness' sake. And as we sail into the holiday season, we need a reminder of the merits of cheerfulness, generosity, and kindness. 

I find much of the humor around Puss in his display of distinctly cat-like behaviors, even as he is portrayed as this larger-than-life figure. In The Last Wish we get a heaping helping: Puss heartily ordering a drink at a saloon, only to take tiny laps at it with his kitty tongue; his animated ginger fur slowly standing on end in fright; burying his boots and hat with backwards motions recognizable from any litter box session; and he and Kitty's stiffening tails, humped backs and snarling fangs as they face off for a catfight. And of course, his ability to turn his green cat eyes into giant limpid pools of unbearable cuteness is a trick that never gets old.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a solid entry in DreamWorks animated collection and likely to be a hit with both kids and adults with its vivid characterizations, intense action sequences, crack voice work, and many lessons about life, death, family and friendship. And with Puss and friends wrapping up the flick with a voyage to the land of Far Far Away, where Shrek and Fiona dwell, we may be hearing more about Puss's final life adventures very soon. 

Meanwhile, I'll be watching this movie again.