The 2023 movie cycle has already begun and today I will be taking a look at two movies that I recently watched and giving them a review.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish 

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a fantastic movie. Despite this movie coming out eleven years after the first solo Puss in Boots movie, you do not need to watch the prequel. All major plot points needed from the last movie are mentioned allowing for an easier and more comprehensive viewing experience. The talented cast includes Antonio Banderas (Puss), Salma Haley (Lady Softpaws), Florence Pugh (Goldilocks), Harvey Guillen (Perrito), Olivia Colman (Mama Bear), John Mulaney (Jack Horner), and Samson Kayo (Baby Bear). One of my favorite elements of the movie is the visuals. The vibrant and detailed animation is very visually appealing. 

Even though this movie is made for kids, it features some very heavy themes and interesting ideas. Puss’ character in particular is very interesting. On the surface, Puss is a witty, charming, and daring individual with no sense of care in the world. However, this carefree attitude is exposed when he is confronted by the villain of the movie. The main villain of the movie is Death himself in the form of a white wolf with red eyes equipped with two sickle swords. Death reveals to Puss that he is in his last life, playing on the myth that cats have nine lives. All of a sudden Puss’ demeanor changes as he desperately fights the wolf in order to stay alive, and this battle to stay alive all while Death is attempting to steal his last life continues throughout the movie. Death reveals to Puss that he should have been more careful with his other lives and that because of this carelessness, he has come to take Puss’ last life away. This underlying conflict brings up the idea of getting the most out of life and enjoying every moment because you only have one life to live, which is a pretty deep topic to feature in a kids’ movie. The conflict between Puss and Death intertwines with another conflict: the struggle to find the location of the last wish. This magical region is said to have a star that grants a person a single wish, and Puss hopes to use the wish to get his lives back. This is where we are introduced to other characters of the story as Puss is not the only one trying to reach the wishing star. In addition to this, Puss, despite his tough and daring personality, has a hidden soft side which is exposed by Perrito, a lost stray dog that joins Puss on his adventures, and Kitty Softpaws, Puss’ love interest. Here, an entirely new storyline is intertwined as Puss now has to look out for the interests of not only himself but also Perrito and Kitty. 

I hope it is starting to become apparent why Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is such a good movie. It has everything a movie should have: good storytelling, beautiful visuals, comedy, heavy themes, love, and conflict, just to name a few. I would highly recommend anyone to go and watch this movie if you have the chance. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the next massive Marvel installment in a long line of superhero movies, and to be honest it did not live up to the standard. Don’t get me wrong I am a huge Marvel fan, but I was not a fan of this movie. One of the biggest flaws of this movie is the setting: the Quantum realm. In this massive and unknown universe, there is too much going on at such a fast pace and the viewer is overwhelmed by huge CGI landscapes and bizarre alien creatures and beings. There are so many strange elements in the movie that it is difficult for the viewer to make any sense of it. We are introduced to random sets of characters that have never been seen before, each one having its own backstory and somewhat flimsy relationship with the main characters. Then we are expected to understand these characters and empathize with their situation, but the movie fails to do this which leaves the viewer confused and disconnected from the characters on the screen. To be fair, the task of presenting such a massive and bizarre universe in only the small amount of time given by a single movie would be very difficult. But regardless of the difficulty, the movie still fails to complete this task. Getting the setting right is one of the most important aspects of a movie because it sets the atmosphere and tone for the entire film, and not being able to do so drops the movie’s quality massively. 

There are a few saving graces of the movie as Paul Rudd provides a witty and comical performance maintaining Ant-Man’s character as a loving but somewhat aloof father who also happens to be a superhero. The movie attempts to explore the relationship between Scott (Ant-man) and his daughter, which has become distant because Scott has been missing for so long. This does add some heartwarming tones to the movie but does not provide any catharsis.

Another huge flaw is the ending which is incredibly underwhelming. Kang is made out to be this massive villain who has destroyed entire universes and timelines, but in the end, he is taken out quite easily and without much of a fight. Despite his massive potential, Kang seems to be used as a throw-away villain in this movie. However, this is not the last time that we will see Kang, so hopefully, in future movies, his character is explored in more depth. 

Upcoming Movies in 2023

There are a lot of movies that I am looking forward to watching in 2023, and I wanted to go over a few of them. Creed III was actually released in movie theaters on March 3, but I have not been able to watch it yet. I have heard good things about the movie which stars Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors. In April, the Super Mario Bros. Movie comes out. With Super Mario Bros. being a large part of my childhood I am interested to see how they turn the beloved video game into a movie. Next, May sees the release of the next installment of the Marvel universe: Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3. For me the Guardians of the Galaxy have been some of my favorite marvel movies so I am definitely excited to see this movie. The following month of June has Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. I actually recently watched the first Spider-verse movie, and it is one of my favorite animated movies of all time, so to say I am excited about the movie would be an understatement. Many people including myself would consider the Indiana Jones movies to be classics, so I hope they are able to deliver a good movie and not ruin the reputation of the franchise. Finally, wrapping up this list of upcoming movies we have the new Chirstoper Nolan movie: Oppenheimer, and Dune: part two.

Already 2023 has seen some quality movies and I am excited to see many more as the year progresses.