A Wholesome, Entertaining Journey to Find Out the Meaning of Life

When Shrek 2 landed in theaters in 2004, a beloved fairytale character was brought to life on the screen: Puss in Boots. Hired by the father of Princess Fiona, Puss in Boots set out to kill Shrek in the movie but landed a recurring role in the franchise and a standalone film in 2011. The daring feline may be cute, but he is deadly with his sword and charismatic personality, making him a fan favorite throughout the franchise. His standalone film, Puss in Boots, was a massive success when it came out in 2011, making it one of the biggest animated releases of that year. Now in 2022, a long overdue sequel has arrived to the 2011 movie and hopes to make a name for itself during the busy holiday season: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

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Plans for this movie began not long after the release of the original Puss in Boots movie, and it was officially announced in 2014 that the film was in the works. The title of the movie was trademarked back in 2020, and the entire cast was revealed in March 2022, months ahead of the movie’s release. The design aesthetic and animation for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was directly said to have been inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. That visual style permeates throughout the film, as many scenes look like they are coming straight out of a comic book or manga fight scene.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is directed by Joel Crawford. Antonio Banderas reprises voicing Puss in Boots, while Salma Hayek returns as Kitty Softpaws. This movie features a plethora of new characters in the franchise, and with that comes new voice actors. Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, John Mulaney, Harvey Guillén, and Wagner Moura are just a few of the new characters that can be seen and heard throughout the movie–several of whom are inspired by fairytales as well. This is very on-brand when compared to the previous movie, which featured the likes of Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, and Jack Beanstalk.

Finding Out What Matters

Universal Pictures

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish opens with a grand display of Puss in Boots’ larger-than-life personality. He has broken into some town’s mayor’s mansion and is hosting a party, clawing up portraits, singing, and dancing along with the townsfolk. However, after the mayor catches him in the middle of a dance number, a giant monster appears, forcing Puss in Boots to use his abilities to save the day yet again. This does not come without consequences–Puss in Boots is crushed by a falling bell at the very end of the fight, killing and forcing him onto the last of his nine lives. If he dies again, that is the end of the legendary feline. At first, this does not seem to faze him, and he heads to the bar upon waking. There, he encounters a powerful wolf with red eyes who presumably is a bounty hunter. This is not a fight Puss in Boots can win, and, with his head held low, he gives up the life he has lived to protect his last life. With the wolf chasing him, there is only one spot where Puss in Boots can truly be safe: Mama Luna’s house. Mama Luna protects domesticated cats, and after burying his cape in her front yard, Puss in Boots resigns himself to a life of eating kitty kibble and sunbathing in the window forever. He resists it at first, but after being stuck inside the house for a while, he begins to accept his new fate and even gives up on grooming himself, making the beloved character completely unrecognizable to even the most devoted fan in this universe.

Related: Shrek 5 is in Development, Teases Puss in Boots Star Antonio Banderas

Adventure cannot stay away from him, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears, a crime family consisting of a human girl and her three talking bears, show up at the house looking for him. Puss in Boots evades their notice, but finds out about a mysterious Wishing Star in the process, prompting him to dig up his hat and cape from its shallow grave and set out for a brand new, potentially final journey. He is joined by Perrito, a dog who has been pretending to be a cat in the house, and reunites with Kitty Softpaws as they try to steal the map to the Wishing Star from Jack Horner. With three different teams out to get the Wishing Star and make their dreams come true, the movie turns into an epic journey across dreams and nightmares to find out that maybe everything someone ever wanted is right in front of them.

Throughout its run time, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish cycles through all the emotions one could go through. Some moments tend to lean towards the heartstrings with the cats producing their most adorable, awe-inspiring looks to charm their audience, while some gags lean towards adult humor. Both children and audiences alike can enjoy this story, and while it incorporates fairytale characters that are fairly well-known with a new angle, the story itself unfolds like a fable. For a character like Puss in Boots that’s obsessed with the myth and legend he has gone through, this film does an excellent job of establishing it as its continuation of the myth while fleshing out his backstory.

A Highly Cinematic Movie

DreamWorks

One of the most defining and notable details when watching Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is the animation itself. Not only are the fight scenes and details animated to look like they are coming straight out of a storybook, but the visuals are extremely vibrant. Whether it is the wolf’s red eyes shining in the dark, looking like rubies with how bright they are, or Puss in Boots’ fight scenes moving eloquently across the screen, this film feels like a cinematic experience. Whether in 3D or 2D, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a treat to watch, mixing in a balanced level of cuteness, humor, and fight scenes to potentially warrant a rewatch later on. It may even be one of the best-animated movies of the year, stretching the potential of what animated films can look like in the future. On a different note, the mortality present in a lot of Western movies can be heavily felt in this movie, especially as Puss in Boots comes to confront the reality of his mortality. Even though he knows the risks he is taking when he dons his boots and hat for what might be the last time, he seeks out the meaning of life while attempting to bargain with magic–the Wishing Star–for the opportunity to live again. Sometimes all it takes is a long, arduous journey for some people, or cats, to realize what they have right now is pretty decent in the long run, leading some to potentially find this ending to fall flat. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish offers a lot to contemplate and reflect on for a kid’s movie, especially as its core theme relies on the concept of memento mori.

Related: Shrek and Puss in Boots: Every Movie in Chronological Order

This is a movie relying almost completely on the emotional payoff and attachments made during their grand journey, especially as Puss in Boots confronts his last enemy, the Big Bad Wolf, in the literal fight for his life. The stakes and greatest threat to Puss in Boots’ final life are established early on: the wolf’s whistle seems to haunt him wherever he goes, and its red eyes lurk behind every corner. As an audience, we know that if Puss in Boots fails this mission, then this could be game over. There is no going back, even in the face of love and friendship. This theme manifests in the character of Goldilocks, too, as her surprising real wish is revealed to her family of bears.

Stories like these are not new. Characters like Puss in Boots, who initially laugh at the face of death and think they are immortal, exist across franchises, novels, and video games. The themes in this movie can be considered pretty dark a first glance, especially considering the sheer amount of death discussed throughout the movie. For a DreamWorks movie, this one leans a bit on the more existentialist aspects of life and death, but it works well. It still manages to be a really fun kid’s movie that happens to get its point across pretty clearly while still being appropriate for its core audience.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is in theaters on December 21, 2022.

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