Puss in Boots is back after 11 years away from the silver screen.
It’s been over a decade since the last theatrical entry in the Shrek saga, so I was apprehensive about such a late sequel to 2011’s Puss in Boots, a movie which I barely remember if I’m being honest.
In Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Puss discovers that he’s already lost eight of his nine lives and decides to hang up his cape and his wee little boots. Of course, he’s thrust back into adventure when he hears of a wishing star which he could use to wish for his eight lives back.
The idea of a Puss in Boots sequel where Puss is forced to confront his own mortality may seem a little grim, and it's not exactly subtle about it – his fear of death really is the driving force of the movie. The Last Wish does the subject matter justice though; it's not afraid to get dark.
It’s still very much a family film, but the subject matter has some intense moments for the very youngest of viewers. One of the villains, a bounty hunter wolf tracking down Puss, might be the most terrifying villain ever put to screen in a kid's film.
Speaking as a 29-year-old viewer though, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is amazing. It’s fantastic; a feat of animation. I want to shout from the rooftops my love for this film. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is as good as Shrek and Shrek 2.
If you’d asked me before the film if it would be possible for this film to get that kind of reaction out of me, I’d have called you insane.
The animation is such a step up from previous films in the Shrek franchise. Ever since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018, it seems that every other studio has upped their game in terms of animation quality. No longer are we concerned with uncanny valley realism and instead letting animation be animation and audiences are so much better for it.
The more mature subject matter works really well for the character of Puss. There was always a fun juxtaposition with his character where he takes himself super seriously in a silly world and made many fun little hints to less family-friendly adventures in his past.
Antonio Banderas’s signature voice has aged and it suits the world-weary Puss in Boots. Alongside him, there's his real-life friend Salma Hayek Pinault as Kitty Softpaws, newcomer Harvey Guillen as a scene-stealing new character named Perrito and Florence Pugh and Olivia Colman as Goldilocks and Mama Bear.
If the animation, the darker tone and the cast wasn't enough, the film is also hilarious. Comedian John Mulaney plays the hilariously evil and irredeemable Big Jack Horner whom even Jiminy Cricket can't save. Plus I always giggle whenever Puss acts like a real cat.
If it wasn't clear, I love Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. I love it so much. It's unbelievably good.
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