Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – Film Review

Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll when he learns that he has burnt through eight of his nine lives. Puss sets out on an epic journey to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives.

The first Puss in Boots movie is one that I deeply enjoyed, which is something that I’m in the vast minority of. The decade-spanning Shrek franchise is quite possibly my favorite kids/family franchise of all-time. Each movie in the series (except for the colossally disappointing Shrek the Third) holds a place near and dear to my heart.

So many kids movies get a bad reputation for being, well, only for kids. But, the Shrek movies prove that animated movies can be hugely enjoyable for adults too. But when it was announced that a Puss in Boots sequel would be released eleven years after the release of the first one, people were understandably confused and worried that it would be a soulless cash grab.

That couldn’t be further from the truth. In all honesty, Joel Crawford‘s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is not only by far the best film in the entire Shrek franchise, but it’s one of the greatest animated films I’ve ever seen. This movie had no right to be as incredible as it was.

Something I loved about this movie was just how mature it was. Yes, of course, the character of Puss in Boots himself is still a jokester and there’s still some amazing humor to be found in the film, but it definitely goes significantly deeper than I was expecting it to.

This is a movie that takes the concept of death seriously and doesn’t treat it like something that can be reversed or shrugged off. When the movie begins, we learn that Puss has already died eight times meaning that if he dies once more, he’s dead for good. This scares him and causes him to hang up his iconic boots and retire.

However, upon learning that he may be able to get all nine lives back thanks to a magical wish, he must embark on a massive journey all while being chased by a terrifying entity that promises to kill him. The fact that this movie talks so straight-forward about the finality of death is so special. It teaches us to ensure that we’re living our lives to the best of our ability because we only have one life to live.

It also packs one gigantic punch of an ending that surely won’t leave a dry eye. It’s one of those endings that feels so grandiose and emotionally impactful to the point where the parents may end up crying harder than the kids. Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow‘s script is seriously nothing short of masterful here.

Of course, there’s also Antonio Banderas as the voice of Puss in Boots which is definitely one of the best animated casting decisions of all time. He brings such a sense of charisma and joy to the character that no other actor out there would’ve been able to bring.

Another standout here is Florence Pugh as the voice of Goldilocks. It turns out that she, too, wants to make a magical wish along with her three bears, and even though the film initially presents them to be villains, the more we learn about them, the more we understand them and their plight.

This movie has absolutely magnificent villains because their motivations and reasons for doing what they are trying to do are so understandable. The best villains of all time are the ones that make the most sense. The villains in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish are incredible.

And it would be a crime to not talk about how genuinely gorgeous this movie looks. The animation style present here definitely reminded me a lot of the animation style used in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. If every single DreamWorks movie looks like this from here on out, they will end up being the best animated studio working today without a doubt.

This film is the definition of a comforting hug. It’s a movie that is never afraid to get gritty and serious with its subject matter while still managing to get the audience to laugh and take us on a fantastical journey once more. I’ll gladly go on more adventures with Puss and company if the opportunity were to ever rise again.

With an incredible story, breathtaking animation, stellar voice acting, and huge emotional beats, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is one of the greatest animated films ever made.