The character of Puss in Boots first appeared in 2002 in Shrek 2 and immediately became a cult cult. He is entitled to his eponymous film, Le Chat Potté premier du nom, in 2011. It is more than ten years after that the adventurous feline returns to the big screen for the pleasure of young and old in Puss in Boots 2: The Last Quest, film in which he will have to fight to find his 9 lives during a most dazzling epic.
A successful transition between past and present
At the beginning of the film, we find the cat we all know: presumptuous (even pretentious), daredevil and adored by a crowd of fans. But very quickly, when he is told that he has exhausted 8 of his cat lives and that he had better hang up the sword, the character enters into introspection. A real change that feels good, because we manage to find an optimal balance between the universe we knew and what it becomes. This is even one of the themes of the film: acceptance. We can easily say that it is done smoothly thanks to a careful writing, both funny and incisive, and especially through the development of our dear cat. Going further, we could even say that Puss in Boots 2: The Last Quest almost manages to reach the level of pastiche of the first Shrek movies.
An aesthetic renewal
The evolution of the aesthetics of major animation studios has been debated in recent years, between nostalgia on the one hand and overall satisfaction on the other. We feel that each studio is trying new things, to find its graphic paste, and Dreamworks is no exception to the rule. In Puss in Boots 2: The Last Quest, we have a real aesthetic renewal that works well. The art direction is clear, precise, and in addition to a classic 3D animation, we use cel shading, a technique that forces the contour lines to give a more "cartoonish" look to its characters or its environment. In the action scenes (very engaging and funny by the way) we allow ourselves to play with the rhythm, starting with that of the image, and different techniques are mixed there too for the pleasure of the eyes. To all this is added the very worked development of the different places in which our heroes go. The aesthetic identity of the film is striking and inventive, becoming one of the strengths of the film.
A mature film
Puss in Boots 2: The Last Quest is a roller coaster of emotions, but it's also a kind of slap in the face that you take in your face without really expecting it. Topics such as fear of death, trauma, personal development and introspection are addressed; Not to mention the subtext on sickly anxiety. Without any heaviness, without the film playing tears or being too scary for a youth audience, we witness the passage to adulthood of a character who was created 20 years ago, and with whom several generations of children have grown up. This will inevitably reinforce the identification of a viewer who grew up as much with the Shrek saga as with Puss in Boots. A real tour de force that extends even to the secondary characters (and therefore to the whole universe of the film) which even for the most innocent, for the funniest, have a lot of depth. Potté's quest is not an adventure like all those he has been able to live, or those we have witnessed in all possible mediums, it is a quest for happiness, a quest for himself. Both a film in which to find themselves for adults and a beautiful lesson, fun moreover, for children, Puss in Boots 2: The Last Quest succeeds in bringing back a key character from the Dreamworks animation studios to the cinema with brio. We cry, we laugh, we smile in front of this sequel which, hopefully, will inspire the greatest number. In theaters December 7.
