Why Puss in Boots The Last Wish is a Modern Classic

Funding for the Elis shaper is provided by Squarespace, the sponsor of today's video. Oh, by the way, I have a second channel for YouTube scats and amvs, so now that you know, you have no excuse to say I don't do them anymore. the video, you know, if there's one movie that I don't see people talking about enough, it's The Cat and the Boots: The Last Wish. It really flew under the radar and I thought I should do this underrated gem justice, okay, but honestly, this has easily been the most talked about Dreamworks film in over a decade.

All have been praised. Everyone is in love with her. I did a little review when it first came out and I've been talking about it on Twitter and in many of my videos. Well, it doesn't really need much more attention, but after overanalyzing the entire Shrek saga, do you really think I'm going to stop there? No, we have to give this masterpiece the extensive analysis it deserves. Puss and Boots The Last Wish is a film that defies all possible expectations, the standalone sequel to the not-so-loved 2011 Shrek spin-off film that was forgotten after its release, no one was clamoring for a sequel, but it came out of everyone's hands. ways and surprised everyone, not only surpassing the first film by a wide margin, but also putting 90% of the rest of the Dreamworks catalog to shame, it boggles the mind, like why you put so much effort into the characters in the story and the animation of a Puss in Boots sequel and you can also do the same for Kung Fu Panda 4 please, but I'm getting ahead of myself, let's look at every aspect of this wonderful return to form for DreamWorks and see what there is to say about it, starting with if there's anything I can say that applies to both animated films that DreamWorks released in 2022 is that the animation was very good, well that's all I have to say about the bag guys there you have it I reviewed it yay anyway let's go back to Bobs cat so the thing from the Shrek movies and the original.

Puss and Boots is that they came out during the era when realism was the main goal of computer animation, which made for some revolutionary visuals at the time, but looking back, yeah, I mean, Shrek 4 holds up well. in terms of animation, but everything else. has a noticeably dated look, making the sudden change of style present in the

last

wish

completely jarring in the best way possible, this is what the cat used to look like and this is what it looks like now, how brilliant, the designs of The characters are generally more expressive and colorful which is enhanced by the beautiful new painterly aesthetic to which the visual style of the entire film adheres.

There are so many scenes that feel like a storybook come to life, whether it's the way the environments are laid out or the stunning vivid colors they simply look like. in the garden outside Mama Luna's house, this has to be one of the most beautiful settings I've ever seen in an animated film and it's not even a magical place or anything, it's the outside of a cat retirement home. and they put a lot of effort into making it look so pretty, imagine what they can do with some legit magical places, oh wait you don't need to imagine it, it's in the movie you idiot, keep watching, look at the vibrancy of these bouquets or the stunning scenery of In the final battle at the top of Wishing Star, it's amazing how far the animators went beyond these incredible backgrounds and details, but like many

classic

fairy tales, this one has many dark elements and the animation supports so many scenes with the wolf. o Other shadowy moments along the way are lit darkly enough to really show the intent of the scene.

It's a movie that encompasses the entire Gambit of how fairy tales can make you feel trapped by Whimsy for 1 second and then terrified. Next, but then there is the obvious advantage of this style of animation, the action scenes. I've said it before, but as soon as you see the characters start dropping frames, that's how you know you're in for something good, it happens as early as the opening action scene. vs. the Giant really lets you know that yes, we're going to go ahead and push the capabilities of the animation medium harder than any DreamWorks film before, that's in addition to the impact shots where the backgrounds react when the giant is hit.

Aside from the way the camera follows the cat as he dodges the bell and heads towards the giant, the cinematography does such a good job of immersing you in the scene as the animation style, it really is something special by the standards of this franchise. . and Studio also go all out with simple travel scenes like the one where Jack Hoer is pondering the orb only for it to zoom in on the silhouettes of all the other characters. Gosh, he just talks about a movie with complete confidence in his visual style, there's never a dull one. At the moment, visually each frame simply conveys complete mastery over what is needed to make the scene stand out, but this is pretty obvious to anyone with eyes; luckily there is a lot of substance in this film which does a great job of matching its amazing style, let's go ahead and talk about what each character brings to the narrative starting with Squarespace, they were my favorite character in the film.

I like when they said it's Squarespace in time and then they did spaced squares on Jack Herer. I really hope Squarespace returns for Shrek 12, okay let's talk. about them now Squarespace is an amazing online website builder that allows you to create beautiful websites for your business or personal hobby. Create your own online store to sell your products, whether physical, digital or services. You better believe that Squarespace has the tools you need. Start selling online, upgrade to one of their professional website templates with designs for every category and use case, then make it your own by customizing the design, updating the contents, and adding the features you need.

Any Squarespace template can do whatever you want, allowing your ideal brand or business to stand out and on any device you can also host video content using Squarespace by organizing your video library by displaying your content on beautiful video pages and selling access to exclusive videos with member areas the possibilities are almost limitless visit squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch, visit squarespace.com sheris to save 10% on your first website or domain purchase, plus have a stylish Stunning and distinctive visuals, this film also has the distinction of telling one of the best stories of any DreamWorks film and, as much as I enjoy the way the Shrek series subverts

classic

fairy tale stories and tropes, I think That from the beginning you can really see the emotional maturity of this story compared to when he proudly proclaims that this story is a fairy tale without any sense of irony or cynicism, simply listening to Puss and Boots tell the legend of the Star of Wishes is the complete opposite of what you'd expect from a Shrek movie release and that's the whole point of this movie, Mo doesn't choose to do it. not to subvert fairy tales, but to embrace them and make them great again in a much more sincere way than Shrek ever did.

The entire concept of the film revolves around a magical forest that terraforms and changes the obstacles in everyone's path depending on who is holding it. map which is brilliant, it's the kind of incredibly creative fairy tale concept that you'd like to watch an entire movie around and it manages to say a lot about its characters in the process, speaking of said characters, why don't we start with the team? friendship that began with the doggo who appointed the expert team. I love this puppy so much that I was actually afraid of his character going into the movie because the trailers made him seem like the obligatory generic comedic sidekick that would really drag the movie down and make it more.

He's kid-friendly, then I watched the movie and, oh, chewing a little stupid, yeah, so not only is he hilarious, but his presence honestly enhances the movie in incredibly unexpected ways. He's basically this movie's equivalent of the donkey without being a complete repeat of that character. He brings a different touch. he vibrates while still serving as a vital confidant for the main characters, disarming them and allowing them to open up to other people, in the same way that the donkey was a great shoulder to vent on for both Shrek and Fiona in the first film. Pito allows both the cat and the kitten to let their guard down and start trusting each other again, all because they allowed themselves to trust him, he is crucial to both character arcs and his incredible optimism serves as a welcome contrast to his pessimism.

I mean, this poor Papo has the most tragic backstory in the entire story. The Shrek franchise and he's so innocent and trusting that he doesn't even realize that he's supposed to feel sad. This leads to a scene that is fun but also sets up a crazy feat. It is also the first time Kitty has voiced. concern for another character, she goes from not trusting Pito and assuming he is kind as a facade to becoming embroiled in emotional turmoil that he doesn't seem to have, even suggesting that he should have a

wish

even though her entire goal was to get the wish. for herself speaking of which let's move our analysis to Kitty, she was surely a character from the first Cat and Boots and I surely remember what she did in that movie.

Only, you know, I'm not going to talk about anything related. for her from that movie not because she doesn't remember it just because this analysis is long enough as it is, yeah okay I rewatched the stupid first movie which was a bit half-assed but Humpty was the best character ever conceived for the movies, so 10 out of 10 anyway, Kitty in the first movie is fine, she's whatever, she's just there to be the cat's love interest and oh no, she's sneaky, she betrays him and, wow, They are both very horny, wow, she doesn't have a character like any other in this first movie. besides having no real relevance since the story focuses entirely on the relationship between the cat and the stupid egg, you could take her out of the movie with minimal modification and it wouldn't change much, we get an interesting bit of backstory with her , this is how his previous owners unexpectedly declawed him, the movie then proceeds to do nothing with this information even though it would be the perfect catalyst, an arc where he trusts no one and has to learn to open up to others.

And hey, that sounds like a really good movie, right? Yes, Kitty went from being bland and static in the first film to one of the most dynamic and interesting characters in the sequel. Her fights with the cat are consistently funny. She really feels like they have a lot more history. At this point, they seem like an old couple, but she also has a nice arc where she starts to learn how to trust others again. She starts off ready to hit Pito at any moment, but as I mentioned earlier, she eventually agrees. that he really is that nice and she briefly mentions being declawed as one of the reasons she avoids trusting people in general, but much of the unresolved conflict with the cat relates specifically to something that happened at Santa Coloma, the postman is here.

I have to take a break. You should invite the postman to this discussion. I should ask her if she has anything to say about Puss and Boots. Oh, too late, he's leaving. Not well. Goodbye after numerous references to this mysterious event. El Gato finally reveals to Pito that it was her wedding day that he left her. the altar and she hears how sorry and guilty he feels about it and then resolves her conscience by admitting to him that she didn't show up either, since the cat was incredibly ego-driven and too in love with himself, one might wonder why she was so He firmly holds Santa Coloma against him when she wasn't there anyway and I feel like there are two possibilities here: one, he was lying, maybe he showed up at the wedding just to break her heart and pretending he wasn't there is his way of forgiving. to a cat or two, what I personally prefer is that she didn't show up because her distrust of the cat is due to her huge ego and lack of interest in other people.

She's not actually mad that the cat isn't at the wedding, that's just a symptom of the bigger problem is how much the cat is valued above her, she doesn't want to be with a guy so obsessed with himself in general and when you combine the cat's selfishness with his general mistrust of the entire world that stems from his declawing, it's completely understandable. why do you assume that the cat only has his own interests in mind and I really like how we don't know if Kitty went to the wedding or not, they never show a flashback of her there, it's like a Schinger cat wedding, she was there and what?

It wasn't there that we finally got to the cat and, as expected, I have more thansay about him among our Central Trio? First of all, can I say that in the context of the larger Shrek Universe, I was really worried about the cat's character for the first time? In the

last

20 years or so, the In-Universe felt like he was this famous SL Bounty Hunter SL Ogre Slayer hero for a while, and then as soon as Shrek grabbed him by the throat, he lost all agency as a character to all the times. In Shrek he also had a life debt to Shrek and therefore helped him during the search for him in this movie, but then during the phenomenal Undisputed Champion of All Cinema, he needed a hero sequence.

He says this today. I'll pay my debt, okay, debt paid. I guess why is he still with Shrek in the next movies? He never feels like he has a reason to accompany Shrek anywhere outside of The Producers, saying, "Well, everyone likes cats and so does Shrek, so we have to keep him around in the other movies." but it never made sense for her character to continue dating Shrek, at least the donkey has nothing better to do other than his wife I guess, but the way Shrek concluded it really just felt like the cat was already retired and never did it again. nothing great, so thank goodness this movie takes great strides in reinventing the cat, showing us that he eventually returned to heroism and, being this legendary, almost mythical figure, it's a far cry from how completely Shrek is.

The sequels diluted his character and look. I love Shrek 4 more than anyone else on planet Earth, but you could remove the cat from that story and nothing would change. You could also do the same with Strike the Third, but to be fair, you could remove that as well. The whole movie is gone and nothing would change anyway, getting back to what's cool, the opening action sequence is how you reboot a character and have them accomplish much more impressive feats than we've seen before. I especially love the way his sword swings are in tune with the song about Dauntless Hero being a Bop, but this opening sequence has a bigger role than making the cat cool again, making him arrogant, he loves being a hero mainly for the recognition it brings him, he doesn't even remember what city he is in.

He organizes a great party in his honor and is the one who awakens the sleeping giant by carelessly launching fireworks. His arrogance really comes to a head once he kills the giant, but he stays behind for a continuous performance of his song and this is what kills him. He would have been fine if it weren't for the arrogance of him that we see in his past deaths. Montage, wastes almost all of his previous lives in incredibly stupid ways and even when the doctor advises him to stop and start taking his mortality seriously, he doesn't do that since his ego drives everything he does, it's not until his literal encounter with death when he begins to reconsider, goes to the cat's house and his dignity collapses.

I guess one of the few problems I have with this movie is that it feels like we spent a while here and you could have cut that time short, but it's still a necessary way to bring the hero down and show him at his lowest point yet. I mean, I guess technically his lowest point was being in Shrek the Third. but let's not worry about that, it's also a great idea to take the sword away from him for most of the movie. A crucial aspect of his heroism is now gone and can't be reclaimed until he proves his worth in the final showdown and it's nice how.

In addition to all these external factors that bring down the cat's ego and humiliate him, he also realizes himself. In the Cave of Lost Souls scene you can see how much he no longer connects with his previous lives, seeing them as arrogant idiots. He values ​​living up to the legend over forming bonds with others. A great showcase of his growth in general. The last element of the cat character I want to touch on now is a certain scene. This will blow your mind, but did you know that this movie? has a realistic depiction of a panic attack again, much like the movie itself, no one really talks about this scene, but seriously, before the memes reach the sky, try to remember that at one point this was just a scene really mature and well made.

His outer persona is to be this fearless hero, someone who is never scared by anything but the fear of death, both the concept and the character have finally broken him in the middle of this chaotic battle with Jack Corner's Bakers dying left and right in front of him. He sees the mystery wolf once again and succumbs to the pressure of staying alive, so he runs off and finally stops in a tree to do nothing except hyperventilate, he can't communicate, he can't move, he can't think that he just does it. They have overcome fear and despair. stands out is one of the truest moments of the film, it's here because it feels like a natural progression from the last scene and the cat character and leads to Pito fulfilling the wish he expressed earlier in the film to be a therapy dog . head into the cat's lap and simply supports him, calming him in the process and allowing him to finally open up about his fear.

It is a very intelligent and natural reward and I like it even more because they don't mention the therapy dog ​​here. Stop no I don't have a line like wow I guess I'm a real therapy dog ​​now or well that just happens. Thank goodness you have your therapy dog, my boy. No, they show it instead of telling it. They trust their audience to understand it. They left a serious conversation. The character's moment is developed without dumbing it down in any way or undermining it with a joke, there's obviously a lot more to say about the character and the Cat's journey throughout this film, but I'll save that for when we talk about another particular character that It is the Cat Arch.

Intertwined with there are plenty of other characters we should take a look at first, like why don't we see what a certain orphan girl and her bear family are up to. I feel like if there is any aspect of this movie that is just good and not Great, it would be everything with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Their presence is welcome and certainly enhances the film, but I feel like they are some of the least talked about characters for a reason, not because they are bad. There's a lot of other stuff to talk about here, they're built up as sinister bounty hunters who subvert everything you know about them from their fairy tale, sort of like Jack and Jill in the first movie, except they're actually memorable and not so embarrassing, but it turns out there's a bunch of incompetent fools disguised as a crime family, oh and the Bears can talk, it's really funny how they wait a bit to reveal that it's generally a lot of fun to watch a group of amateurs do everything possible to commit crimes, the only thing that can get old is the amount of Just Right jokes they make, like there has to be some other joke material they could have pulled out because it really loses its charm after the twelfth time, but in its For the most part they remain a fun and silly antagonist team. so the cat and his friends have to deal with this, it's not until Goldie finally gets her hands on the map halfway through the movie that we start to see some proper play with these characters during the first half, it's not quite clear what a horse this team is. has in the map race, we don't know what wish they're interested in making the hell out of, the Bears themselves don't even really know, they're just banking on Goldie's secret wish to be something spectacular, one that will turn them into a big crime family with all the cakes they were able to eat, but soon the map tells her that what she is looking for could be right in front of her and oh look it's her cabin back home, the Bears quickly lose all motivation to fulfill the wish as it turns out they already have everything they want and Goldie sees an echo of her younger self the day she first entered the cabin and became part of the Bear family, usually in this fairy tale, Goldilocks escapes and never He crosses paths with these Bears again, but it is quite new. of the fairy tale subversion franchise to subvert what it usually does and instead turn this story into a more positive and wholesome outcome and said outcome is the familiar troll found R ooh, I love it, it serves as a good parallel to the found family that forms among cats.

Kitty and Pito, and this particular scene is where the movie finally tells you that yes, you're not wrong at all for finding Goldie and the Bears endearing, that was our intention, you're welcome, and Goldie takes even more hits to the face with evidence that she adopted. family is all she really needs, courtesy of who else, Pito, they end up kidnapping him and he has a great time watching Goldie and the bear argue bonding over colorful vocabulary, my foot grabs him and then expresses how much he would love to have a family. like this and that Goldie really won the Orphan Lottery, another indication to Goldie that she already has everything she wants and once again she doesn't realize it because in the next scene with these characters, she finally reveals that her wish is to have a suitable family because apparently she's too good to live with bears.

It's a cruel motivation for her, and despite how hurt the bears are, they promise to grant her that wish. It is good to prevent characters from separating before meeting again. the climax cliché, although this is probably a justifiable reason for the Bears to leave temporarily, but Puss and Boots laugh at the clichés, so they accept that Goldie wants to move on, after all, she is not a Bear, hey, wait a minute. If we want to be a bear, the problem is solved, we can even have a spin-off of this sister bear spin-off, the first DreamWorks film to generate negative box office returns since Disney twice proved that audiences hate that Knowing that her bear sister would completely bombard Goldie, she decides to wish for human parents, but eventually lets the wish go when she has it to save the baby and gives up the wish as she realizes that the Bears were his real family all along.

It's very simple. Predictable arc and conclusion to this side story, but I think it's good to have it here. I think I said in a previous Shrek review that I'm all for redeeming villains when appropriate and that's the case here. Goldie and the Bears May For me, I had the weakest story in the movie, but the way it concludes is perfect. The Bears even got their unofficial wish of wanting a bunch of Pies, as they can take over a certain Pie factory and, as for everyone else, officially buy. wish it's good that they all realized that none of them really needed it all this time Goldilocks already had the family she was looking for.

Kitty now had someone she could trust. The cat already had enough with one life and just needed to value it. and there's another character who should have been satisfied with the abundance of magic he had, but simply needed more, had the most superficial desire, and yet he's the only one who couldn't give up said desire, let's talk about when the movie came out. first time. I was a little worried that I was going to be the only one who enjoyed Jack Herer, since I didn't really see anyone else talking about him online, the discussion was about the wolf, Goldilocks and the cat himself, and I thought.

I would have to be the main promoter for Jack, just like I am for the crab boy, but thankfully the public's reaction to this irredeemable monster was somewhat delayed. I guess people just needed time to process all this villainous goodness, but yeah, a few weeks later. everyone started talking about how much they enjoyed Jack Corer to the point that he's probably the second most disliked character in the movie after death, which is funny since there's not much to analyze about him, he's just a villain funny, pure, and evil, with no emotional baggage or compelling backstory to make him relatable or understandable, which is crazy, since having a one-dimensional villain could be considered a knock against the film, and yet it's an aspect that has been universally praised here, why do you think it's okay, let's explore that?

First of all, let's not forget what franchise this is. It's a certified anti-Disney Shrek franchise since its inception, it has existed to counter and subvert Disney and its distinctive brand of fairy tales, traditional musical numbers replaced by pop music. the beautiful princess turns into an ogre and stays that way the characters swear and innuendo and all that bullshit it's a rejection of the ultra-familiar traditional values ​​represented in the earliest and simplest Disney fairy tales and it worked wonders when it came out a few years later of the Disney Renaissance concluded, but times have changed for the studio lately, making its princesses more proactive, its stories more layered, and for better or worse, its villains more complex, not just many of them have motivations for the things they do now, but also many of them Hide their true intentions from the protagonists and the public to a great extentrevelation.

This means that none of them really get a chance to be blatantly evil, as the evil versions of these characters barely get any screen time, all for the sake of putting on an unconvincing twist. yada yada yada c'mon this is chaurus 101 you should know this by now between all the twisted villains and movies without villains we haven't actually seen a truly honest main villain from start to finish since King Candy in Wreck-It. Ralph and that was 11 years ago, needless to say, everyone solely misses the evil antagonists and sort of resents Disney for cutting them out of their stories.

I swear to God if they fake the wish and Chris Pine turns out to be a Twist hero. I'm going to lose my temper, so with all that being said, isn't it fitting that the Shrek franchise outdoes Disney yet again, giving us one of the most deliciously evil irredeemable villains any animated movie has had in years and the anti-redeemable element? Disney's character goes a step further than him, being a reaction to the current climate of Disney films. You see, Jack is a hoarder of all sorts of magical items from different familiar fairy tales just by looking at his impressive Trophy Room collection, wouldn't you think he's the guy who has it all but doesn't give a damn about it wants more? this gluttonous maniac will never be satisfied until he gets all the magic in the world this is starting to seem quite allegorical to something else Jack corner is Disney he collects all these fairy tales and puts them under his umbrella, often misusing or misinterpreting them.

Disney frequently changes the stories of certain fairy tales to make them more marketable. I bet some of you didn't even know that the little mermaid dies in the original version. of the story and don't even get me started on the Snow Queen versus Frozen, it's totally fine to change stories and make new adaptations of them, but the thing is, Disney is so big that their versions of certain fairy tales overwrite the Original in the public consciousness, but they don't really care, do they? The Little Mermaid is a nice happy story without murders. Now Aladdin has a genius making celebrities.

Impressions now Chicken Little is a shitty alien invasion story. A noble Phoenix is ​​now a flamethrower. Now Excalibur is a sword with a large stone attached to it. Look, Jack Corer and Disney didn't understand the point of Excalibur and you finally know that when the track initially ended in 2010, Disney didn't have much, just loving fans and stability. a seemingly endless catalog of classic hit animated films, both from its own studio and Pixar, useless garbage like that, but over the course of the 2010s, Disney sure has been buying up a lot of brands, between Marvel, Star Wars, The Robots from 2005's The Simpsons and all the other Blue Sky movies, it's pretty clear that there's nothing Disney wants more than all the IPS in the world for themselves and no one else gets any.

It's so bad that yes, the answer is yes, I agree to disagree. Jack Corer is easily the anti-Disney Villain in a franchise whose first villain was literally a caricature of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, it's so nice that we keep this tradition alive even after 21 years of this franchise's existence, but Of course, Spidy Disney isn't the only reason Jack Corer is such an absolute Banger Villain - the guy is consistently hilarious and often gives the movie some of its best online footage, all excellently presented with John Meany's signature goofy voice. I also love his grotesque baby face and his horrible haircut, top notch work.

Also to be noted in this design is that Jack joins the pantheon of villains who are silly and fun but also serve as a legitimate drastic threat. This type of villain is my favorite by far. You know your expenses. Your bill encrypts your kakaris. Hades Jack disheartens easily. secures a place among their ranks by being constantly funny, but also someone who does real damage and provides some stakes to the story, as if without him, yes, the cat is still being pursued by death, but the only other threat in terms of the desire plot is Goldie, who, it turns out, only once her family backs Jack provides some crucial stakes for the story while also being the catalyst for Goldie and the Bears, giving up all pretense of antagonism and joining forces with the friendship team, so it's funny, threatening, is crucial to the story's stakes.

What am I missing? Oh yes, true idiot. One of my favorite Jack jokes is, without a doubt, that hilarious Cricket ass. Not only is his chemistry with Jack excellent and his voice and way of speaking are perfect for comedy. Chef's Kiss from mAh, but conceptually it's a great comedic idea. to adapt Pinocchio's conscience, except this time it tasks him with finding the good in an irredeemable manic monster that's what I call a classic shrekism a fun subversion of a fairy tale we all know in love hell, the cricket even gets his own arc realizing that sometimes people just suck and there's no way to redeem them, this leads him to deal the final blow to Jack in the final battle, so to speak, when he burns the last piece of the map and prevents him from Jack gets his wish and even gets an epilogue. scene with the Bears as if they really went all out for a joke character, in fact, now that I'm talking about all the fun that Jack and his cricet friend give us, it would be a good time to mention that, overall, this It's a fun movie.

It's really not fair that this movie, much like the Spiderverse, just has it all. Stellar animation that changes the game. Exciting drama. A mature tone compared to its contemporaries. John. Wicked and really strong humor. Almost all of Jack and Cricket's lines are comedy gold, of course, we all know that, but. There's a lot of fun in Cat and Kitty's fights, Bear's clumsy attempts to threaten that Oh Cat Cameo, as it's one of the only memorable gags from the first film, and the innocence and optimism of Stop, oh, and Also his bad words, yes. I think those sensor beeps caught us all off guard, as did the surprising frequency of mild-as-shit swears Kitty almost said.

Etc director Joel Crawford has stated that this was an intentional way to recall the edginess of the Shrek saga and is a very welcome addition, as are the hilariously gruesome ways in which Jack's Bakers keep dying like saints. The fact that so many characters die this way adds some texture to the Dark Forest while also allowing for some excellent comedic timing with some of these deaths. Hey, wait a minute, something about all these dead characters reminds me that I'm forgetting to talk about someone in this movie, as you may have guessed. I've been saving the best part of this movie for last.

Let's talk about Death, hands down my pick for best villain in any DreamWorks film. I want to clarify that right now, yes, death is a villain, not a simple antagonist, if it were simply a force of nature that comes to take the cat's last life after it legitimately loses it, then yes, death would be the antagonist who is simply doing his job. He looks a lot like Terry from Soul, but that's not what's going on here. Death is actively tormenting the cat and trying to kill it prematurely. One of the cat's past lives even points out that this is cheating.

Just because he changes his mind in the end doesn't change that. Most of the movie has pushed the boundaries of his work and done something legitimately evil. He is a villain. Stop correcting people who say that because they are right. It's kind of funny, although if you think about it, the story could work without the character. of death in him as if the cat could still be motivated by his fear of death to obtain the Wishing Star and could still participate in this Great Adventure with Goldilocks and Jacko perfectly playing the villain roles of the movie.

You don't actually need character death. to make this movie's story work, but that being said, his presence enhances the movie so much. I mentioned in my video about the lack of villains in

modern

Disney movies how Disney doesn't really have villains anymore because they want to have their protagonists. go through and overcome internal struggles, but DreamWorks went ahead and showed that you can do both with this character, since death is the physical manifestation of the cat's anxiety and greatest fear, as a result, the cat gets a great arc and a compelling fight in this movie, while we have one too.

One of the most intense and badass villains in any animated film in recent memory, many people have taken notice and pointed out that his first appearance is in the crowd during the giant fight, which is badass, it's hell, I've never done it. You knew, but he was always there waiting in silence. for the opportunity to take the cat's life and its proper introduction scene is so quietly sinister at the beginning with the lights blowing out the now iconic sinister whistle and the big guy himself seemingly appearing out of nowhere, you can feel just how big this Beast is. savoring every moment of this first conversation with the cat, everything that led up to him touching the word dead on the cat's wanted poster.

Another great detail in the scene is how the cat finished eight glasses of milk and is now on the ninth, which he doesn't finish any sooner. he confronts the wolf, which is probably a metaphor for something. I don't know what it could be, although during the fight we can hear the cat's signature heroic theme as he tries to fight what he assumes is a simple bounty hunter, although he consistently can do it. I'm not proposing a hit, this all culminates when the wolf does precisely that to him. He hits her with his scythe. There's even hyper-realistic gore to really signify that our favorite saintly, fearless hero, Catboy, is in legitimate danger here.

He shouldn't have to do it. telling you how hard this shot or this one is going, the direction and the way this moment is framed increases the intensity and creates a killer pun in the scene totally intended, it also goes back to the opening song where the Cat arrogantly sang about how he's never touched it. a sword before he truly takes pride in this fact, it makes him feel invincible, so this moment of death finally breaks this streak and proves once and for all that he is truly mortal and he is huge and appropriately given all the weight. it deserves. from the director's point of view, it makes the cat's hair stand up and turn gray.

The whole death talks about how much he enjoys the smell of fear. He mocks the cat for having his life flash before his eyes and of course tells the cat to pick up the sword from him knowing full well. That cat, right? I also really like how this brief slice of the life of one of the cats is the only appearance of Shrek and Donkey in the entire movie, so it's the first time since 2010 that a movie features Shrek, as you might think. That would be a moment of celebration or, in other words, a nostalgia-bait moment, but they don't exaggerate it at all.

It was a big part of a cat's life. It deserves to be shown here, but they're not going to dwell on it. Since it's not about this story, I appreciate the restraint, especially considering that the opening logo had the boss baby, so it's nice to know that the movie can use Legacy characters appropriately, even if the logo can't, It's also funny how it works. It looks a little like that shot of Pumbaa and Simba walking across the bridge and The Lion King continuing the trend of Disney parallels and riffs, but none of that really matters right now, we shouldn't rejoice in the fact that we just see Shrek and Donkey.

We are bound to fear the fact that the cat will never see them again, he runs away, and you can tell the wolf is enjoying every moment of the torture. This torture cat manages to escape down the toilet and again let's appreciate the restraint DreamWorks of everything the studios didn't have to make a joke out of this they are taking this moment seriously as they should as of this moment death reports almost all the actions the cat takes in the movie. He scoffed at the idea of ​​giving up on adventures until this monstrosity appeared. and fully fleshed it out now he's hanging up his hat and

boots

and resigning himself to retirement until he finds out about The Last Wish and forms a new plan to cheat death his entire motivation revolves around death the two are inextricably linked to the point where Death doesn't interact with anyone in the entire movie other than the cat.

Jack Herer and his entire team of bakers literally die, but death doesn't come to harvest their souls or anything. He's just here through this door and no one else notices. his presence until the final fight makes him feel even more sinister, it's like, no, he's not just here because this is his job, he's a relentless, malicious hunter bent on torturing a guy, he also shows up incredibly sporadically and only has around 7. Minutes of screen time throughoutthe film and yet his shadow looms over everything, using him so infrequently makes each encounter distinctive and memorable and then there's the scene in the cave with all of the cat's past lives where we get a glimpse of his motivation for how he feels slighted by the fact that the cat treats their lives so frivolously and doesn't value any of them, as well as calling the idea of ​​Nine Lives absurd, which is totally cats are op please Nerf we even have one of his only comedic lines in the film where he finally reveals himself.

He calls himself death and clarifies that he does not mean it, neither metaphorically nor rhetorically, neither theoretically nor poetically, and that he is simply death. It's a direct way of doing a genuinely funny line that also manages to fit the tone of a dark character and a dark scene. It just feels so natural and doesn't take away from the terror of the character, the scene also has deliciously scary visuals and now is probably a good time to mention that there are kids watching this movie as if it was technically made for them. The fact that it tries so hard with dark visuals and actually gets a PG rating instead of just being given one by default is a very refreshing change of pace.

Don Bluth once said that kids can handle dark things as long as the movie has a happy ending. which is a sentiment you can easily apply to this film. Once kids get out of the preschool demographic, I think it's a good idea to challenge them with images like this that might be out of their comfort zone, as it can really spark their creativity and imagination. From an adult perspective, you can really appreciate the artistry that goes into how this cunning villain is presented, as well as get involved in how it ties directly into the cat's arc, which of course comes to a head in his final confrontation with death.

The first time a character other than the cat notices him, probably because death no longer cares about hiding and tormenting the cat from afar, he declares that this is the cat's last battle, so he lets the others look from the other side of the fire that constitutes their boss. Arena, as these Flames erupt, you can hear a much more intense orchestrated version of their theme that previously only appeared in its eerie hissing form. It offers the cat the option of taking the coward's way out and using the wish to get his life back or finally taking it back. his sword and his fight and when the first life of the cat begins to flash before his eyes again, he quickly gives way to moments of his current life and the adventure he lived with Kitty and donkey, he finally accepts that his previous lives have come and gone and who instead of clinging to them and obsessed with his mortality, vows to continue living the only life he has left.

It's a beautiful Revelation that makes him cry while also allowing him to take up the sword for the first time since the beginning of the movie, as well as squirt. his trademark catchphrase, fear me if you dare, then we get the best fight scene in the entire movie. It all comes together here, the emotional stakes, the fiery backgrounds, the choreography, the way the death gun hits the ground at the same time as the score, the reveal of the kitty blade Kitty gave the cat the way the cat uses the same spinning motion he did in his previous brush with death only to trick him with a swift kick to the face oh great and then the most satisfying line in the entire movie, he picks it up again.

I legitimately wanted to cheer when I pushed he said I never cheer. in the movies, sure, but ooh, that was just weird, after that cat finally admits that he can never beat death, but he'll never stop fighting for this life, which is the most mature and perfect conclusion possible for this one. story instead of him actually. Kill him to death or throw him off the platform and win the crushing battle. The cat accepts that death is inevitable, but proves that he must be allowed to live out his final life and death accepts that he will no longer find any fun in this chase as he no longer sees the cat as an arrogant little legend he thought he was.

Immortal, this line not only comes after an entire movie dedicated to humiliating the cat and allowing him to let go of the legend he feels he has to live up to, it's also a direct parallel to a line Kitty had before. when she tells him that she didn't come to the wedding either, she says that she wasn't going to show up to marry the Legends, but he doesn't seem like that guy anymore, after all, he noticed the exact same thing death does in this scene . The entire character of death is intrinsically linked to the Cat Arc throughout this film and nothing makes that more clear than the fact that once the Cat Arc is complete and he vows to ignore being a legend and value his life remaining, Death simply leaves them, they both agree that they will meet. again and realizes that it's a beautiful conclusion to the character, one that doesn't devalue him as an Unstoppable Force, since it was entirely his decision to let the cat live in a way that falls into the category of redeemed villains since he lets it go. from his evil desire to end the last life of the cat prematurely and he goes back to just doing his job waiting until the cat dies without his participation to finally take its life and the cat is happy with that fact, just perfect, wouldn't change a thing about nothing related to death in this movie.

It's one of the most mature and compelling stories I've ever seen in an animated film and will stay with me for quite some time. Everything after the fight to the death is resolved in a spectacular way. Jack Corner is dispatched in such a hilarious way, which is really a testament to how well this movie juggles multiple villains, that the battle with the giant Jack manages to fit and work even after the perfect battle to the death. Goldie and the bears are still a family and they get their cake. Enterprise, the cricket has a new purpose or maybe. got squashed here at EK Pito sticks with that name since that's what his friends call him and we have a nice Stinger bookend with the governor where the team friendship steals his ship and sails off to the holy now that we're talking some have argued that the The movie didn't need to end with a Shrek tea since it has so much of its own identity, but I like it, it's the way the filmmaker says, "Imagine how enlightened Shrek 5 is about to be." I hope it lives up to the legend and that's The Cat And The Boots The Last Wish, a movie that came out of nowhere and blew everyone away after 11 years going in and out of development hell.

Somehow it came up with an incredibly creative premise, surprisingly rich and layered characters, a tone that pays homage to the Shrek franchise. while still managing to warmly embrace its fairytale heritage, a stunning new style of animation that follows in the footsteps of the Spiderverse while also feeling distinct and memorable in its own right and, of course, one of the biggest villains. never included in an animated film. I love this movie. with all my heart and I really think it's going to stand the test of time the way the first two Shrek movies have and the fourth movie deserves it 20 years from now.

I think we'll all continue talking about it. humor is animation is drama the whole thing is one for the ages and i hope it's just the start of a new creative renaissance for dreamworks again don't get up kung fu panda 4 good night dark forest