Puss in Boots: The Last Wish review

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH: 

SEQUEL TO SHREK SPIN-OFF BREATHES LIFE BACK INTO THIS ONCE-DORMANT FRANCHISE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

Death, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, and Perrito in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

 

            The adorable but ferocious cat fugitive/hero is back in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the latest installment of DreamWorks’ Shrek franchise and follow-up to 2011’s Puss in Boots. The Puss in Boots character originally made his debut in 2004’s Shrek 2 and has since become a huge fan-favorite in the series to the point where he got his own spin-off movie in 2011. 

            I really enjoy the Shrek movies (Well, half of them!), the 2001 original and its sequel are often considered as some of the greatest animated films of all time. With their clever twists on the fairy tale formula, jabs at Disney, humor that caters to both children and adults, all sorts of memorable characters, and the first film helped establish DreamWorks as a strong competitor against Disney.

            However, the franchise started to take a dive following the release of Shrek 2 with 2007’s Shrek the Third and 2010’s Shrek Forever After (AKA Shrek: The Final Chapter…supposedly!) being the series’ weaker entries that had their moments but sadly couldn’t quite recapture the magic of their predecessors. But then after the ogre’s run had ended, his feline companion started to breathe new life into the series in 2011 with the first Puss in Boots movie, which was a solid return to form for the Shrek franchise after so many ups and downs. 

            Which brings us to the sequel with Joel Crawford (The Croods: A New Age) replacing Chris Miller as director that was marketed as “The Logan of Puss in Boots”…it is not! Don’t get me wrong, there are dramatic moments in it with the plot revolving around Puss being on his last life, but at its core it’s still a fun, upbeat adventure with talking cats and dogs and weird takes on beloved fairy tale characters. 

            While I don’t think Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is quite on the same level of quality as the first two Shrekmovies, this is a brilliant continuation of the Puss in Boots legacy that even outshines its predecessor…just like a certain other sequel in this franchise. I was pleasantly surprised at how invested I was in the story and characters while also digging the film’s more stylized animation style compared to previous Shrek movies. 

            The film follows Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas-Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spy Kids franchise) discovering that he had wasted eight of his nine lives and is now down to his last life despite him constantly reassuring everyone that “The legend will never die!”. But when Puss begins to accept the reality that he’ll die if he wastes his last life, he learns about a magic Wishing Star that fell from the sky and embarks on a quest to find it and hopefully restore his eight lives. 

            However, with the ruthless crime family Goldilocks (voiced by Florence Pugh-Fighting with My Family, Little Women (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the Three Bears consisting of Mama Bear (voiced by Olivia Colman-The Favourite, The Mitchells VS the Machines, Empire of Light), Papa Bear (voiced by Ray Winstone-The Departed, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Hugo), and Baby Bear (voiced by Samson Kayo-Dolittle, The Bubble) and the corrupt businessman “Big” Jack Horner (voiced by John Mulaney-Saturday Night Live, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers) also on the hunt to find the Wishing Star as well as a mysterious black-hooded wolf who calls himself Death (voiced by Wagner Moura-Elysium, Wasp Network, The Gray Man) hot on his trail, this forces Puss to reunite with his old flame Kitty Softpaws (voiced by Salma Hayek-Frida, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Eternals) and a dog disguised as a cat that he befriended at an old cat lady’s house named Perrito (voiced by Harvey Guillén-What We Do in the Shadows) as they race against time to find the Wishing Star while outsmarting these wicked forces. 

            Overall, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish expands upon the lore of the titular character as well as the entire Shrekuniverse with a stylish, funny, and action-packed animated feature that also has a surprisingly thought-provoking story. Basically, this is what Shrek 2 was to the original film for the first Puss in Boots where the sequel isn’t just as enjoyable as its predecessor but surpasses it on every level. 

            I knew this movie was working for me when after Puss realizes he’s down to his last life following an extremely funny montage of his previous deaths and the film lets the idea of being dangerously close to death and the tragedy of the situation sink in. The fact that this fun-loving and suave swashbuckler who was practically immortal only has one life left adds a level of urgency to the plot and vulnerability to the character thus ironically making him a lot more relatable and human by comparison…despite being a cat. 

            You really feel sorry for Puss in this movie and want to see him succeed in his mission to find the Wishing Star, but as it goes on he starts to question whether to go through with getting his eight lives back or embracing the life he has left and living it to its fullest. This is a very deep and mature message to teach children and why I think this movie is so brilliant, because it doesn’t cop out at the last minute with a forced happy ending and the message the film offers will make kids think about how they would want to spend their lives. 

            Puss aside, the characters are very engaging and quite funny when necessary, Kitty is still the feisty love interest who may or may not have her own agendas and has entertaining chemistry with Puss. “Big” Jack Horner is incredibly funny as this fairy tale version of Elon Musk or some other corrupt businessman and the gags involving a Jiminy Cricket-inspired character acting as his conscious are some of the funniest jokes in the film, and while Goldilocks and the Three Bears as criminals could be seen as a slight rehash of Jack and Jill from the first movie, they get some good laughs (Including a Wicker Man reference!) and even go through an arc as the film goes on.  

            The wolf version of Death might be the most terrifying DreamWorks villain ever, from his menacing appearance to his large hook weapons, and just his overall unsettling presence whenever he appears. I could easily see little kids being terrified by this villain so be careful parents, I’m 29 and I was intimidated by him. 

            The animation is also a visual marvel where it abandons the more realistic animation from the Shrek movies in favor a more stylized, comic book look that’s reminiscent to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s art style. Often during the action sequences, the character movements will have this choppy frame-rate much like in Spider-Verse with a lot of flashy effects and colors and I think it compliments Puss in Boots’ adventurous tone quite nicely. 

            Puss in Boots: The Last Wish successfully recaptures the magic of the Shrek franchise’s glory days with a gorgeously animated, fun, and bold adventure that both kids and adults will love. I came in expecting a good sequel to a good movie, but I got a great sequel instead.