puss in boots movie review 2022

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“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is as spry and light on its feet as its titular feline.

The inherently alluring paradox of the swashbuckling kitty from the “ Shrek ” universe remains firmly in place 11 years after his first solo feature. He’s a dashing adventurer, a charmer with the ladies, feared and renowned throughout the land—but he’s also unbearably adorable as he laps up milk from a shot glass with his pinky, sandpapery tongue. As always, the charismatic and sensitive Antonio Banderas finds just the right tone in exploring this furry animated figure's suave and silly sides.

“The Last Wish” expands the roster of ridiculously talented supporting players from the Oscar-nominated 2011 original “Puss in Boots.” Joining Banderas and his longtime friend and co-star Salma Hayek Pinault are Florence Pugh , Olivia Colman , Ray Winstone , Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and John Mulaney , among many others. They bring a surprising amount of substance to what might have been a purely playful endeavor.

But of course, the fast-paced humor and elaborate visuals are the main draws of director Joel Crawford and co-director Januel Mercado ’s film. The film’s aesthetics may rely too heavily on anime influences, especially during the action sequences, but the vibrant colors and rich textures are a delight. From the moss growing on a fearsome forest giant to the shiny silkiness of Puss’ whiskers blowing in the wind, “The Last Wish” offers a variety of eye-popping details. And it frequently features dramatic shadows and subtle dissolves to transition from past to present or one scene to the next.

The story begins with a debauched bacchanal (featuring kegs filled with leche) that’s more convincing than the opening orgy in “ Babylon .” Puss in Boots is naturally front and center, singing his heart out, partying it up—but eventually, he must go on the run when he realizes that bounty hunter The Big Bad Wolf ( Wagner Moura ) is after him, and he’s down to the last of his nine lives. (The zippy montage revealing the many ways he’s died is packed with witty, little asides.) FYI for parents and caretakers of little kids: The Big Bad Wolf is essentially The Grim Reaper. He’s relentless, and he’s terrifying.

Faking his death, Puss seeks shelter at a cramped cat refuge run by Randolph’s sweetly doting Mama Luna. Watching the arrogant, preening feline struggle to assimilate into a mundane world of dry food and shared litter boxes is hilarious, and the angles through which we experience his reluctant transformation put us inside his head. But it’s here that Puss meets an unlikely ally: a scruffy, crazy-eyed Chihuahua pretending to be a cat because he has nowhere else to go. We come to know him as Perrito, and he’s played with scene-stealing sweetness by Harvey Guillen (“ What We Do in the Shadows ”). In a stacked voice cast, Guillen’s performance emerges as the unexpected highlight. Perrito’s unflappable innocence and enthusiasm in the face of danger are infectious, but he also provides the film with some of its most deeply emotional moments. Again, the darker parts of “The Last Wish” may disturb young viewers.

When Puss’ former rival and flame Kitty Softpaws shows up (voiced once again with sarcastic, flirtatious charm by Hayek Pinault), the three go on a mission to find the mythical Wishing Star to restore Puss’ nine lives. The magical map that takes them there suggests a wildly divergent and amusing variety of paths, depending on who’s holding it. But they’re not the only ones seeking the map and the power of the Wishing Star. Also on their tail are Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Pugh, Winstone, Colman, and Samson Kayo ), who are now a bickering, Cockney-voiced crime syndicate straight out of a Guy Ritchie movie. (The idea of Winstone and Colman playing Pugh’s parents in any format is irresistible, and we need more of this.) And in the least developed supporting part, Mulaney plays the gluttonous gang boss “Big” Jack Horner, a towering figure who collects rare, fairy-tale objects like Cinderella’s glass slipper and baby unicorn horns.

After a roaring start, “The Last Wish” sags a bit in the midsection as it becomes clear that we’re in for a pretty standard quest from this script by  Paul Fisher (“ The Croods: A New Age ”) and Tommy Swerdlow (2018’s “ The Grinch ”). Of course, everyone’s after everyone else, and they’re all after the same thing, with some funny and frightening obstacles along the way. But the film also manages to convey messages of selflessness and teamwork in a way that doesn’t feel heavy-handed or cloying. And the stellar voice performances and dazzling visuals keep things so engaging you won’t need a laser pointer or a catnip-stuffed mouse toy to entertain you.

Now playing in theaters. 

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Rated PG for action/violence, rude humor/language, and some scary moments.

104 minutes

Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots (voice)

Salma Hayek as Kitty Softpaws (voice)

Florence Pugh as Goldilocks (voice)

Olivia Colman as Mama Bear (voice)

Ray Winstone as Papa Bear (voice)

Wagner Moura as The Big Bad Wolf / "Death" (voice)

John Mulaney as 'Big' Jack Horner (voice)

Harvey Guillén as Perro (voice)

Samson Kayo as Baby Bear (voice)

Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Mama Luna (voice)

Anthony Mendez as Doctor (voice)

Kevin McCann as Ethical Bug (voice)

Conrad Vernon as Gingy (voice)

• Joel Crawford

Director (co-director)

• Januel Mercado

Writer (story by)

• Tommy Swerdlow
• Tom Wheeler
• Paul Fisher
• Heitor Pereira

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‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ Review: Swashbuckling Again

This animated sequel is a tidy charmer.

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By Glenn Kenny

It might be hard to believe it today, but there was a time when “Shrek” seemed like a breath of fresh air in the world of big-screen animation. Its salty humor and insistent pop culture knowingness was fun for a minute, before the sequels got nudging and formulaic. And then there was the whole shoving-Smash Mouth-down-our-throat issue. DreamWorks, the studio that concocted “Shrek,” soon enough became the anti-Pixar — in a bad way.

So it’s a pleasant surprise that “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” the second feature film highlighting a beloved children’s lit character who became one of the favorite additions to the “Shrek” universe, is for the most part winning. It contains amusing jokes and has an old-fashioned impulse to tug at heart strings. This in spite of the video-game-suggestive plot construction, in which Puss and cohorts, aided by an animated map, race to a dark forest to find a wishing star, with other children’s lore characters in hot, malevolent pursuit.

Puss is voiced by Antonio Banderas, whose purr can warm the cockles of any and all, as is also the case with Salma Hayek Pinault, who plays his love-and-hate interest Kitty Softpaws. Directed by Joel Crawford, the movie’s overall tone harks back not so much to prior DreamWorks pictures as it does to the “Fractured Fairy Tales” of the old TV cartoon “Rocky and Bullwinkle.” To this end, Goldilocks and the Three Bears are now a band of criminals (including voice work by the powerhouses Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone and Florence Pugh). This often charming movie will play particularly well if you’re a cat person. But who’s not?

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. In theaters.

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish might be the year’s most unexpected triumph

Hello to the best DreamWorks Animation movie in years

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Moviegoers shouldn’t have to rely on a sequel to a Shrek spinoff from 11 years ago to discover dazzling spectacle, but here we are. Just days after Avatar: The Way of Water finessed and stretched the photoreal CG language of James Cameron’s original to greater heights (depths?), a frickin’ Puss in Boots movie swings the action pendulum in the complete opposite stylistic direction, while remaining on Cameron’s audacious wavelength. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish , the latest DreamWorks Animation film, steals mercilessly from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse playbook, and you know what, thank god for it — the result is a fairy tale adventure that complements genuine laughs with splashy, impressionistic art.

I have absolutely no memory of what happened in 2011’s Puss in Boots , nor the Netflix show The Adventures of Puss in Boots, but am happy to report a lack of Puss knowledge did not negatively impact my time watching an Antonio Banderas-voiced cat scurry around with his sword. When we pick up with Puss, he’s a milk-drunk legend realizing he’s wasted eight of his nine lives. Wolf, a physical manifestation of death who wields two scythes and is voiced by Narcos ’ Wagner Moura, could not be happier — all he wants is to cut down the arrogant feline as he begs for mercy. But when Puss catches wind of a fallen star capable of granting a wish, he sets off with Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and a tiny dog named Perrito ( What We Do in the Shadows ’ Harvey Guillén) to seize the opportunity. On his fluffy tail are Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and her Three Bears Crime Family, and the Shrek-verse’s version of the Collector, “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney), who also want the star.

Talks of a Puss in Boots 2 began just after the first movie’s success. Executive producer Guillermo del Toro teased in 2012 that a script was already in the works, and by 2014, Banderas was making promises about the character’s return — possibly alongside Shrek. None of this came to pass, and DreamWorks saw creative-team shakeups. Eventually Joel Crawford ( The Croods: A New Age ) stepped in to helm the movie, with Januel Mercado as co-director, with the MO of completely rethinking what a CG-animated movie had to look like at DreamWorks.

“When the Shrek movies came out, CG animation was in an interesting space,” Last Wish production designer Nate Wragg recently told Animation Magazine . “Part of the spectacle of it was, ‘Wow it looks so real, even though it’s not. Look what the computer can do.’ We’ve now been able to swing the pendulum back into a space where animation originated, which was an artistic expression. Bambi ’s backgrounds were watercolored. It was beautiful but it didn’t have to be photoreal.”

As an animation fan, this has been a long time coming. Spider-verse ’s arrival in 2018 felt like a bullet-speed pebble lodging itself in the windshield of mainstream Western animation . The cracks were immediate, and between DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys , Netflix’s Arcane , and Pixar’s upcoming Elemental , the rules might be fully shattered. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish giving the crude Shrek franchise a facelift in every imaginable way is a reason to hope.

The Last Wish is the closest I’ve ever seen a movie get to emulating hand-painted concept art. On their way to the wishing star, Puss and company traverse prismatic backdrops — from bright pinks and green forests to the rustic interiors of a cat-lady prison — that feel dabbed on by the artistic team. Their encounters with beasties use color, linework, and kinetic camera moves to bring viewers deeper into the battles, and like The Way of Water , regularly shift frame rates to jolt the senses. Puss, looking more oil-painted than ever, may be monologuing about his legendary skills one second, animated “on the ones,” then find himself in a cacophonous skirmish with a towering troll the next, which the team animates “on the twos.” The sensation builds on the work of Spider-verse and drags the Shrek franchise, of all things, into the territory of high art. It’s stunning.

The movie’s also really funny? Having recently revisited Shrek 1 and Shrek 2 , I can’t say I walked into The Last Wish with an open heart/funny bone — pop culture hijinks and fairy-tale riffs were dusty then and petrified now. The Last Wish team, including credited screenwriters Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow, reinvent the humor just like the animation. While the movie offers a few nostalgic nods to Shrek, with brief appearances by Gingerbread Man and Pinocchio, and Jack Horner’s endless supply of fantasy literature collectibles gives Mulaney plenty of joke fuel, the movie’s comedy stylings more closely resemble Groundhog Day . Banderas, it turns out, can do the Bill Murray mumbles-to-self one-liner thing. A recurring bit finds Puss reliving his past deaths, and the versions of himself (Showman Puss, Swole Puss, Drunk Puss) that led to each demise. In this sequel, a somewhat obligatory poop joke is actually a litter box joke about Puss faking his own death and “burying” his body. Good!

The Last Wish might just be the best thing DreamWorks Animation, a studio that isn’t as known for pushing the limits of the medium, has produced in the last decade. 2010 gave us the emotional thrillride of How to Train Your Dragon and 2011 had Kung Fu Panda 2 , a martial arts odyssey bursting with imagination that asserted director Jennifer Yuh Nelson as a top-tier action director (even if Hollywood never made good on it). Maybe How to Train Your Dragon 2 tops the original with bigger action — I’ll leave that to the hardcore fans. The Bad Guys was definitely a step in the right technological direction earlier this year. I will not be engaging with Boss Baby discourse.

Whatever the case, the achievement glimmers with hope. DreamWorks Animation, a studio that has bounced from various homes, never found its footing against Pixar, and struggled in the shadow of the Minions, may have found a new mode. If this level of artistry and cleverness is what the studio brings to future films, hell, I will get in line for Shrek 5 . There is so much animation can do, and Hollywood finally seems ready to grant its artists permission to do it.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is now in theaters

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Puss in boots: the last wish review - spectacular animation, underwhelming story.

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Everyone’s favorite animated cat returns in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish . With a new adventure and an inspiring animation style, the sequel — directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado from a screenplay by Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow — is more superior to, and has more depth than, its predecessor. It allows Puss in Boots , who was first introduced in Shrek 2 , time to shine and assess his inner life. But far too many characters and a lack of heart prevent Puss in Boots: The Last Wish from reaching its full potential.

Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) is in a bit of a bind. Having been on so many adventures and fought bravely in exciting battles, Puss in Boots is down to the last of his nine lives. He’s also being hunted by the Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura) in a twist on the classic tale the character is usually in. Terrified of death, Puss in Boots joins forces with old flame Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and Perro (Harvey Guillén) to find The Last Wish to reclaim his nine lives. The only issue is that he must beat Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears — Olivia Colman as Mama Bear, Ray Winston’s as Papa Bear, and Samson Kayo as Baby Bear — and the villainous Jack Horner (John Mulaney) to get to it before they do.

Related: Why Puss In Boots 2 Looks So Different To Shrek

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has bouts of humor, and when it happens the film can be deeply funny. The animation style is also spectacular — one of the year’s best. The Last Wish changing its animation style from the first Puss in Boots was a good decision. The sequel’s animation is clearly influenced by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and anime to bring its visual palette to life. To that end, the animation style is made more intriguing and unique, bringing together 2D and 3D animation instead of sticking to one style. It adds richness to the animation and the world it creates.

The film’s themes are wonderful, as Puss in Boots grapples with his mortality and what to do with the one life he has left. Though the film retcons certain aspects of his character , it’s to the benefit of the story, with Puss in Boots coming to the realization that he doesn’t have to face everything on his own, nor does he have to be alone when there are those who care about him. Puss can be very selfish here, and he is driven by fear and the need to run away, so it’s a nice lesson that he learns as he lets Kitty Softpaws and Perro in despite his reluctance to do so initially.

Where The Last Wish falters is in its lack of heart. Too focused on the thrill of the adventure, there is little time spent on properly developing the supporting characters, which leaves the film’s final moments rather devoid of the feeling it was likely aiming for. There are also too many characters vying for attention, taking away from the main character and his journey. The animation includes a plethora of fairy tale stories in one, and the result is bloated and messy, with far too many unnecessary subplots — like that of Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ personal journey — that ultimately don’t add much and are underwhelming. What’s more, The Last Wish’s antagonist is frustrating and unneeded in a film where Puss’ mortality and a persistent, terrifying bounty hunter already serve this purpose.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish will surely entertain younger audiences. The animation is beautiful, the script occasionally funny, and there is plenty of adventure to excite audiences. For the adults, however, The Last Wish leaves a lot to be desired. With underbaked supporting characters and a bloated story that, while sometimes entertaining, isn’t entirely heartwarming or memorable, the animated sequel could have been a lot more than average.

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish released in theaters December 21. The film is 100 minutes long and rated PG for action/violence, rude humor/language, and some scary moments.

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Puss in boots: the last wish, common sense media reviewers.

Danger, peril ratchet up a notch for charismatic cat.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Kids may pick up some words in Spanish if they don

Family is where you find it, who you make it. If w

Puss ultimately realizes how much he cares for oth

Voice cast is led by Spanish and Latino actors (Ba

Characters face frequent threats, including death

Puss and Softpaws flirt and recall how they fell i

"Hell," "crap," "wuss," "butt," "pooping," "idiot,

Part of the Puss in Boots and Shrek franchises, wh

In one of his death scenes, Puss is staggeringly d

Parents need to know that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish -- which centers on popular Shrek 2 character Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) -- ratchets up the franchise's peril a notch. Puss is down to the last of his nine lives, and he's pursued throughout the movie by a creepy, whistling…

Educational Value

Kids may pick up some words in Spanish if they don't already know them. From Perrito's model, they can learn the value of positive thinking and of supporting your friends.

Positive Messages

Family is where you find it, who you make it. If we only have one life to live, we should make the most of it and surround ourselves with those we love. Fame can be lonely and its pursuit ultimately meaningless; true connections with others are more valuable.

Positive Role Models

Puss ultimately realizes how much he cares for others in his life and makes sacrifices for them. Kitty Softpaws sets resentment aside to rescue Puss and Perrito and work with them as a team. Perrito's positive outlook makes his life's path much easier; he's a good and loyal friend. Goldilocks and the bears seek out trouble but are a strong family unit. Jack Horner is a clear villain, but his backstory does attempt to give him some relatability.

Diverse Representations

Voice cast is led by Spanish and Latino actors (Banderas, Hayek, Guillén, etc.) who mix Spanish words and phrases into their dialogue and singing. Other lead characters are voiced by international actors, mostly from the United States, England, Brazil. A minor character (a woman who takes in stray cats) is Black. But "fat" is used as an insult, and Jack Horner's size/shape is suggested to be part of what makes him unappealing.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Characters face frequent threats, including death in the form of a scary assassin wolf. Puss is killed in an early scene but comes back to life because he's a cat. He then reviews the (comical) ways he was killed eight previous times (including being shot out of a cannon, being squashed by a heavy weight, falling from a significant height, etc.). Animated action sequences involve swords and knives, ominous journeys through menacing settings, fights, falls, explosions, fire, crashes, and so on. Jack Horner is cruel, intimidating, and quick to risk others' lives. One of his minions is eaten by a plant; his skeleton is shown. Puss has a panic attack.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Puss and Softpaws flirt and recall how they fell in love.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"Hell," "crap," "wuss," "butt," "pooping," "idiot," "freaking," "stupid," "weird," "bull," "jerks," "fat" (as an insult), and words (seems like mostly "s--t") that are bleeped out. "Dingleberries" are mentioned.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Part of the Puss in Boots and Shrek franchises, which come with a lot of off-screen merchandising.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

In one of his death scenes, Puss is staggeringly drunk (revisited via flashback a couple of times). Puss also laps up milk in a bar.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish -- which centers on popular Shrek 2 character Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas ) -- ratchets up the franchise's peril a notch. Puss is down to the last of his nine lives, and he's pursued throughout the movie by a creepy, whistling manifestation of death in the form of a wolf who wields two sharp crescent-shaped swords. In his pursuit of the mystical Last Wish, which could restore his squandered lives, Puss encounters a series of other menacing characters, ominous situations, and violent fights (with swords, knives, and other weapons). But he also learns lessons about the value of positive thinking, working with others, and prioritizing loved ones over selfish pursuits. The voice cast, led by a Spanish and Latino cast, peppers the dialogue with Spanish. Language includes "hell," "crap," "wuss," "butt," "pooping," "idiot," "freaking," "stupid," "weird," and some bleeped words. Puss is shown staggeringly drunk in a couple of scenes that are played for humor. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (92)
• Kids say (127)

Based on 92 parent reviews

Final Destination in kid's clothes?

Intense, frightening characters, best for older kids, what's the story.

Fearless hero Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas ) is enjoying the spoils of his fame when he's unexpectedly killed at the start of PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. As he's brought back to life, he's warned that he has now run through eight of his nine lives. The reality of his mortality fills Puss with a newfound fear of death. This is amplified by the menacing wolf ( Wagner Moura ) who begins pursuing him, promising to take his last life. Puss goes into hiding at a cat rescue home, where he meets an innocent and lonely chihuahua, Perrito ( Harvey Guillén ), who clings to Puss as his new best friend. One day, the three bears ( Olivia Colman , Ray Winstone , and Samson Kayo ) and Goldilocks ( Florence Pugh ) show up at Puss' hideout, and the cat overhears their plans to make off with a magical map that will lead them to the mystical Last Wish -- which could perhaps be the secret of regaining his immortality. Puss takes off, Perrito on his tail, to find the map and make his wish. En route, he encounters more threats, especially Jack Horner ( John Mulaney ), and runs into old flame Kitty Softpaws ( Salma Hayek Pinault ).

Is It Any Good?

Shrek's charismatic cat buddy is back in fine form in this action-packed sequel. But Puss in Boots: The Last Wish might have done well to focus more on its characters, both familiar and new, and less on the nonstop action. The chase and fight scenes are visually impressive, but, narratively, they get old quickly. What doesn't get old is Puss' smug confidence in his feline fierceness and "fearless hero" status -- or adorable newcomer Perrito's innate goodness. It's almost a letdown when the fantabulous opening musical number gives way to a traditional chase and fight scene. The voice cast -- led by Banderas, love interest Hayek, and newcomer Guillén as the charming chihuahua -- is once again purr-fect. And the movie throws in quite a bit of Spanish in ways both natural (exclamations) and complementary (the soundtrack).

The music is one of the film's standout elements. Overseen by Brazilian composer Heitor Pereira, the soundtrack ranges from original pieces sung by Pereira and Banderas or Latin American stars like Gaby Moreno and Karol G to reworked classics, like a Spanish-infused version of The Doors' "The End" (Puss' own Apocalypse Now ?). The story's blend of fairy tale characters can be a tad confusing -- menacing villain Jack Horner, a selfish Goldilocks sometimes confused for Bo Peep, and a big, bad wolf. It's part of the Shrek franchise's personality, but unrecognized characters could have functioned just as well and maybe have been less muddied, allowing even more focus on the fanciful felines. The reality is that many viewers will come for the cat -- and this latest adventure does assure that they'll stay for the cat.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what Puss learns over the course of his adventures in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. What do Perrito and Kitty Softpaws show him through their own actions? How do they all learn to work as a team ?

How did the scary/violent scenes in this movie compare to those in the other Shrek and Shrek-related movies? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

If you had one magical wish to make, what would it be and why?

In what ways did the magical map change for each of its users? What was the point of this?

Movie Details

• In theaters : December 21, 2022
• On DVD or streaming : January 6, 2023
• Cast : Antonio Banderas , Salma Hayek , Harvey Guillén , John Mulaney , Florence Pugh
• Director : Joel Crawford
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Latino actors, Middle Eastern/North African actors, Queer actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Cats, Dogs, and Mice , Friendship
• Character Strengths : Teamwork
• Run time : 100 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : action/violence, rude humor/language, and some scary moments
• Last updated : April 19, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Review:  Fast and furrious, ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ demonstrates a lust for life

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Twelve years after the “Shrek” spinoff “Puss in Boots,” the sassy Spanish feline voiced by Antonio Banderas has returned for another fairy tale-busting adventure, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado and written by Paul Fischer (with a story by Tommy Swerdlow and Tom Wheeler). Crawford, Mercado, and Fischer all worked on the DreamWorks Animation favorites “Trolls” and “Croods: A New Age,” and the trio bring a similar “chaotic good” energy to “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” which remixes a new set of familiar nursery rhymes and beloved children’s fables to entertaining ends.

Our titular tabby is living a swashbuckler’s life, swilling leche, singing songs, saving towns, raking in the adoration and accolades, when he dies his eighth death, landing him in his ninth, and final, life. Spooked by a visit from the grim-reaping Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura), Puss decides to hang up his hat and boots and head for retirement in the home of a crazy cat lady, Mama Luna ( Da’Vine Joy Randolph ).

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But he can’t escape adventure, and soon Puss is caught up in the quest for a magical wish, which is in the possession of a greedy, pie-producing hoarder of enchanted trinkets, Little Jack Horner (John Mulaney). Remember him, with the Christmas pie and the plum on his thumb? Jack, now quite big, also is pursued by Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and her Cockney crime syndicate family of bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, Samson Kayo), who want the wish to make things “just right,” of course.

With his former flame Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and new pup friend Perro (Harvey Guillén) joining in on the race to grab the wish, Puss learns how to cherish his one precious life by making a new friend, or burying the hatchet with Kitty. This is all explicated with fast, funny dialogue and therapy-style lessons delivered by an actual therapy dog. Blissed-out chihuahua Perro is more than happy to stop and smell the roses, and as it turns out, that’s a good way to make it through this maze called life.

The irreverent twist on familiar characters makes “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” entertaining (the fact that it doesn’t overstay its welcome at a brisk 1 hour, 40 minutes helps too). What makes it great is the experimental and creative building of this world. The animation is dizzyingly fast and crisp, but it’s the production design by Nate Wragg and art direction by Joseph Feinsilver that sets this film apart. The backgrounds upon which Puss and pals traipse reference Candyland and Francisco Goya, with a rough-hewn painterly quality that evokes a warm, appealing texture, as if you can see brushstrokes. Other settings are Technicolor hallucinatory fantasy-scapes, while the Big Bad Wolf’s angular lines and grayscale palette set off his gleaming red eyes and call to mind the aesthetic of a noir graphic novel.

Banderas’ purring Puss has long been a favorite “Shrek” character, and he has great chemistry with Hayek’s Kitty, but the rest of the cast brings charismatic vocal performances as well, including Pugh, with her distinctive low tone, and Moura (known for his role on “Narcos”), who makes his Wolf singularly scary. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is one gorgeous and dynamic fractured fairy tale.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes Rated: PG, for action/violence, rude humor/language, and some scary moments Playing: Starts Dec. 21 in general release

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

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‘puss in boots: the last wish’ review: antonio banderas in fine feline form.

The actor again voices the intrepid cat, who's now down to his last life, in a sequel also featuring voice work by Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman and Salma Hayek.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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Hey kids, want to see a movie revolving around an aging male character dealing with a mid-life crisis who’s desperately afraid of his impending mortality? Just in time for Christmas?

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Related stories, olivia munn reveals hysterectomy, freezing her eggs after breast cancer diagnosis, critics' conversation: 'civil war' and civic anxiety.

Puss ( Antonio Banderas ) has a more immediate solution to his problem. With the help of his former girlfriend and occasional foil Kitty Softpaws ( Salma Hayek Pinault, also reprising her role), he heads into the Black Forest in search of the mythical Wishing Star that he hopes will restore his squandered lives.

If you’re wondering how he lost so many, screenwriters Paul FIsher and Tommy Swerdlow vividly illustrate the causes of his many demises in a hilarious montage that illustrates the frequent wit on display in DreamWorks Animation offerings. Not all of those deaths are heroic, as demonstrated by his gluttonous losing battle with a shellfish allergy.

Darker in tone but still extremely funny, the film, like so many of its animated brethren, falters when resorting to the frenetic action sequences seemingly designed for tykes’ short attention spans. Those exhausting episodes pale in comparison to such uproarious scenes as a saucer-eyed feline face-off in which Puss attempts to prove he’s the most adorable.

Also highly amusing are the scenes involving the tiny, Jiminy Cricket-inspired Ethical Bug, who fruitlessly attempts to serve as Jack Horner’s conscience. (He’s voiced by DreamWorks Animation story supervisor Kevin McCann, doing a fun riff on Jimmy Stewart).

Making frequent if occasionally overdone allusions to Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns, the film — directed by Joel Crawford ( The Croods: A New Age ) — boasts a painterly animation style that feels richer than the usual computer graphics.   

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish looks great, but what really makes it work is Banderas’ silky-voiced turn, conveying all of the character’s over-the-top feline suavity while making it clear that he’s very much in on the joke. Too often, animated films feature supremely overpaid and overqualified voice casts whom children, and most adults, couldn’t care less about. Banderas, on the other hand, is worth every penny.   

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‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ Review: Antonio Banderas’ Feline Hero Fights for His (Last) Life in Existential Sequel

Turns out, the Shrek sidekick has died eight times already, which explains why he considers himself invincible. Now it's time for Puss to confront what really matters in this gorgeous standalone.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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More than a decade after “Shrek” prequel/spinoff “Puss in Boots,” the flamboyant feline is up to his old tricks — but has yet to meet the computer-animated ogre whose party he’s destined to crash in “Shrek 2.” As that series wore on, the “Shrek” franchise took on so many popular side characters that by the fourth outing, there was hardly room left to swing a cat.

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Co-written by Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow with charmingly Spanish-embellished dialogue throughout, this fairytale-adjacent adventure opens with Puss losing his eighth life. This kitty’s too cocky to realize it at first, but the town vet gives him a rough recap of his previous deaths, which makes for a hilarious (for us) and sobering (for Puss) montage of all the ways his grandiose ego (so perfectly captured by “The Mask of Zorro” star Antonio Banderas ’ voice work) has endangered him till now.

After that dramatic showdown reduces Puss to a quivering scaredy-cat, our hero scampers off to live with Mama Luna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), a self-described “cat fancier” whose feline-infested home always has room for one more stray. Desperate and humbled, Puss buries his cavalier hat, cape and boots in the yard and tries to blend in, meeting a nameless mutt in kitty disguise among Mama Luna’s three dozen or so rescues.

The movie keeps piling on characters as it goes — from Goldi (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears crime family to good-boy-gone-bad Jack Horner (John Mulaney) — until such time that the ensemble has swollen to “Shrek”-like levels. But don’t fret! Mother Goose reject Jack Horner makes for a lame villain. But as complicated as the plot gets, it’s all grounded by characters with clearly defined desires, which makes sense, since they’re all seeking the same thing: A shooting star has landed in the Dark Forest, and whoever reaches it first is entitled to a wish.

Puss wants his lives back. The others, including Puss’ former paramour Kitty Softpaws ( Salma Hayek Pinault ), have equally compelling motives. Only Puss’ mangy canine amigo (Harvey Guillén) seems content with what he’s got, which you’d better believe is going to rub off on the others. Still, it takes a sharp script to do so in such a surprising way, and that’s more than most toons can wish for.

The movie feels most inspired in its first half-hour, when Puss get shaken out of his comfort zone, which is accompanied by a huge shift in visual style for a DreamWorks toon: Eschewing traditional CG codes, production designer Nate Wragg aims for an expressionistic storybook feel, with no lines and a refreshing rejection of photorealistic detail. Instead of distracting us with how lifelike Puss’ fur follicles look, the crew embraces a more painterly approach that still allows the virtual camera to ricochet through space during action sequences. That same dynamism was a signature of the earlier film, with its swooping rooftop chases, that looks infinitely better in this new style.

It’s alarming how quickly computer-animated toons start to look dated. Most audiences won’t pick up on it, but the character rigs are vastly improved here. In the “Shrek” movies, the shoulders so often looked weird, whereas this time around, humans and animals alike have a much greater and more convincing range of postures. Add to that the painterly upgrade, and “Puss” will have paved the way for an all-new aesthetic when the studio decides to give “Shrek” a reboot.

Reviewed at The London Hotel Screening Room, West Hollywood, Nov. 13, 2022. MPA Rating: PG. Running time: 102 MIN.

• Production: (Animated) A Universal Pictures release of a DreamWorks Animation production. Producer: Mark Swift. Executive producers: Andrew Adamson, Chris Meledandri. Co-director: Januel P. Mercado.
• Crew: Director: Joel Crawford. Screenplay: Paul Fisher, Tommy Swerdlow; story: Tommy Swerdlow, Tom Wheeler. Editor: James Ryan. Music: Heitor Pereira.
• With: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Olivia Colman, Harvey Guillén, Samson Kayo, Anthony Mendez, Wagner Moura, John Mulaney, Florence Pugh, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ray Winstone.

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‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ Review: A Nuanced, Winning Fairy Tale for Audiences of All Ages

Emma stefansky.

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“Shrek” was the film that put DreamWorks Animation on the map and, for better or worse, convinced an entire industry to switch their attention from the old world charm of hand-drawn children’s films to the modern frontier of CGI animation. The sequel, “Shrek 2,” introduced something even more important: The Antonio Banderas-voiced, Zorro-inspired Puss in Boots, a swashbuckling ginger cat with a tiny sword, a smart pair of boots, and an adorable pair of enormous kitten eyes. He got his own movie in 2011 after the main Shrek quadrilogy was finished, and its long-awaited follow-up, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” finally debuts this year.

Puss in Boots (Banderas) has spent a lifetime performing daring deeds and laughing in the face of death. Eight lifetimes, in fact: after a particularly heroic battle, Puss finds out that he’s used up almost all of his nine lives, and only has one left. He’s not truly concerned, though, until he comes nose-to-nose with the Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura), a cloaked bounty hunter wielding two scythe blades who has never allowed a wanted criminal to escape. During Puss’s search for safety, he comes across Guy Ritchie-esque crime family Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, and Samson Kayo) who are hunting down the map to a legendary wishing star that fell to Earth long ago.

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With the help of the sweet yet buffoonish Perrito (Harvey Guillen) and Puss’s old flame Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), Puss embarks on a quest to find the star and wish for all his lives back, hounded at every turn by the bears, the Wolf, and magic-obsessed mafioso Big Jack Horner (John Mulaney) of the plum pie nursery rhyme.

“The Last Wish” continues the Shrek franchise’s tongue-in-cheek penchant for throwing popular fairy tale characters into the same world and seeing what comes out. Pugh voices Goldilocks with a gruff “oi oi” London drawl and Mulaney is a treat as violent manchild Jack, darkly intoning the nursery rhyme’s catchphrase “What a good boy am I” at a pivotal moment in the film. The Wolf is particularly frightening as an almost literal personification of Puss’s deep-seated fear of death, appearing out of dark corners with glowing red eyes and a sinister whistle that makes the cat’s fur stand on end.

DreamWorks’ animation department (for which “The Last Wish” debuts a brand-new logo honoring the studio’s most popular characters) has long been one of the more underrated in terms of trying out new styles and aesthetics from film to film (the “Boss Baby” franchise notwithstanding), and “The Last Wish” has a particularly fun blend of standard computer imagery combined with the sketchy look of hand-drawn animation and the fast-paced flip-book style fight choreography popularized by “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”

Perhaps what makes “The Last Wish” a cut above the rest is the deftness with which it eases the audience into the Lesson of the Day format of most animated children’s movies. Ultimately, Puss’s desire to be free from death keeps him from enjoying his life — a somewhat darker concept than one usually finds in children’s media, especially geared towards an audience as young as this film’s. It never, however, plasters whatever it has to say all over the screen, allowing story beats to unfold naturally and in surprising ways. Goldilocks’ secret reason for pursuing the wishing star is particularly unexpected, yet it fits, and it’s handled with grace. “The Last Wish” has no qualms about testing the expectations of its young audience while delivering a freewheeling tale about appreciating the nine lives we already have. 

Dreamworks will release “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” in theaters on Wednesday, December 21.

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish review – sequel no one wanted resembles longform DVD extra

Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and other stars squander their talents voicing harmless but pointless sequel to 2010’s Puss in Boots

S omewhat mystifyingly, some top-secret algorithmic function in DreamWorks Animation’s audience-reaction data analysis software has decreed that yet another comeback is in order for the sort of OK-ish and meh-plus character of Puss in Boots, smokily voiced by Antonio Banderas, originally seen in 2004 in Shrek 2 , and then in the 2010 spinoff feature Puss in Boots . The numbers have come chuntering out of the side of some giant IBM-style computer, the suits have frowningly inspected them, and another tranche of Puss in Boots content has been greenlit.

Once again, debonair outlaw Puss in Boots – a sort of cleaned-up southern European version of Jack Sparrow – is having sword-twirling adventures, again in the company of his paramour Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek); but now PiB must confront his own mortality, having used up eight of his nine lives. He is on a quest to put off the evil hour by finding the legendary wishing star which once fell to earth like a comet; he and Kitty join forces with the perky mutt Perrito (Harvey Guillén), but must battle other fairytale/nursery-rhyme honchos, including a Cockney crime family in the form of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone and Samson Kayo), and “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney) – to whom all the funny lines are given. Wagner Moura voices the Wolf, who is the grim reaper, wielding a couple of sickles.

Really, this movie is a huge 102-minute additional scene, something that would go on the extras package of a Blu-ray edition of the previous Puss in Boots film, or possibly get its own video-on-demand release. It feels like something to put on your TV or iPad to pacify a toddler; nothing wrong with that, of course, and many stressed parents would call it the noblest artistic calling. But how bland and forgettable this film is, without in the smallest way harnessing the real performing power of Banderas, Colman, Pugh, Winstone et al.

• Animation in film
• Comedy films
• Antonio Banderas
• Salma Hayek
• Florence Pugh
• Olivia Colman

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‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ movie review: A ferocious feline’s final life

Movie review.

Eleven years after the “Shrek 2” spinoff “Puss in Boots,” the sassy Spanish feline voiced by Antonio Banderas has returned for another fairy tale-busting adventure, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, and written by Paul Fischer (with a story by Tommy Swerdlow and Tom Wheeler). Crawford, Mercado and Fischer all worked on the DreamWorks Animation favorites “Trolls” and “The Croods: A New Age,” and the trio bring a similar “chaotic good” energy to “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” which remixes a new set of familiar nursery rhymes and beloved children’s fables to entertaining ends.

Our titular tabby is living a swashbuckler’s life, swilling leche, singing songs, saving towns, raking in the adoration and accolades, when he dies his eighth death, landing him on his ninth, and final, life. Spooked by a visit from the grim-reaping Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura), Puss decides to hangs up his hat and boots and head for retirement in the home of a crazy cat lady, Mama Luna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

But he can’t escape adventure, and soon Puss is caught up in the quest for a magical wish, which is in the possession of a greedy, pie-producing hoarder of enchanted trinkets, Little Jack Horner (John Mulaney). Remember him, with the Christmas pie and the plum on his thumb? Jack, now quite big, is also pursued by Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and her cockney crime syndicate family of bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, Samson Kayo), who want the wish to make things “just right,” of course.

With his former flame Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and new pup friend Perro (Harvey Guillén) joining in on the race to grab the wish, Puss starts learning some lessons about how to cherish his one precious life, like making a new friend, or burying the hatchet with Kitty. This is all explicated with fast, funny dialogue and therapy-style lessons delivered by an actual therapy dog. Blissed-out Chihuahua Perro is more than happy to stop and smell the roses, and as it turns out, that’s a good way to make it through this maze called life.

The irreverent twist on familiar characters makes “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” entertaining (the fact that it doesn’t overstay its welcome at a brisk one hour, 40 minutes helps, too). But what makes it great is the experimental and creative building of this world. The animation is dizzyingly fast and crisp, but it’s the production design by Nate Wragg and art direction by Joseph Feinsilver that sets this film apart. The backgrounds upon which Puss and pals traipse range in reference from Candy Land to Francisco Goya, with a rough-hewed painterly quality to the animated backgrounds and characters that gives it a warm, appealing texture, as if you can see brush strokes. Other settings are hallucinatory fantasy-scapes, while the Big Bad Wolf’s angular lines and gray-scale palette sets off his gleaming red eyes and calls to mind the aesthetic of a noir graphic novel.

Banderas’ purring Puss has long been a favorite “Shrek” character, and he has great chemistry with Hayek’s Kitty, but the rest of the cast brings charismatic vocal performances as well, including Pugh, with her distinctive low tone, and Moura (known for his role on “Narcos”), who makes his Wolf singularly scary. With an excellent cast and style, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is one gorgeous and dynamic fractured fairy tale.

With the voices of Antonio Banderas , Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén . Directed by Joel Crawfod and Januel Mercado, from a screenplay by Paul Fischer, based on a story by Tommy Swerdlow and Tom Wheeler. 100 minutes. Rated PG for action/violence, rude humor/language, and some scary moments. Opens Dec. 21 at multiple theaters.

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• DVD & Streaming

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

• Action/Adventure , Animation , Comedy , Kids

Content Caution

In Theaters

• December 21, 2022
• Voices of Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots; Salma Hayek-Pinault as Kitty Softpaws; Harvey Guillén as Perro; Florence Pugh as Goldilocks; John Mulaney as Jack Horner; Wagner Moura as The Big Bad Wolf; Ray Winstone as Papa Bear; Olivia Colman as Mama Bear; Samson Kayo as Baby Bear

Home Release Date

• January 6, 2023
• Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado

Distributor

• Universal Pictures

Movie Review

[ To be read in a thick, smoothly purring Spanish accent. ]

Puss in Boots: the hero, the legend.

He is small, but eminently skilled at doing everything from singing songs and blithely entertaining cheering crowds to battling an army with precise rapier slashes. (He is, of course, devilishly handsome as well.)

And in all his many, wonderful adventures, he approaches each challenge fearlessly. Fearlessly, I say. After all, as a cat he has nine lives. If one battle goes slightly awry, no te preocupes , he has another life in reserve.

Until, that is, he does not .

After one battle with a giant ends in Puss being bashed by a huge church bell, our heroic swashbuckling hero comes to realize that he has used up eight of his adventurous lives. One wrong move—a tumble down some stairs after too many cups of cream, a misstep from a high precipice—could be his last! What can he do?

Fortunately, the great Puss in Boots hears of a wishing star that once fell to Earth in the deep of a dark forest. And this magical star holds the power of one …precious … wish .

And so Puss makes it his earnest quest to find this star and regain the lives he has lost. He will face any mighty foe. He will ascend any treacherous mountain. He will forge any raging sea. He will …

Well, maybe this time he’ll be a bit more careful than he usually is. You know, last life and all. Maybe he’ll be a lot more careful. Just in case.

(Are you still heroic if you wrap yourself in bubble wrap?)

Positive Elements

Puss in Boots is obsessed with his fame and heroic legend.  But eventually his adventures teach him that when dealing with that pumped-up legendary version of himself, he squeezed out room for anyone else in his life. And that caused him to lose a great deal.

In like manner, Kitty Softpaws the thief, whom Puss meets up with, believes that trusting someone always leads to betrayal—an idea that Puss reinforced at one time in her past. Eventually, though, she learns that trusting others is both possible and necessary.

Puss meets a small dog named Perro, who plays an important role in both Puss and Kitty’s lives. He’s had his own abandonment torments in the past, but he pushes those things aside and earnestly believes in helping others, as well as being the best friend he can be. Puss initially doesn’t want anything to do with the scruffy chihuahua, But Perro’s giving, healing attitude not only helps calm the panicked Puss at his greatest times of stress, it encourages the cat to believe that even one life can be enough if you live it well.

Eventually, all three characters realize that vying for a magic wish is a fool’s quest. “I got what I wanted,” Kitty notes. “No magic needed.” Puss and Kitty heal their relationship. Along with Perro, they commit to living their lives well in kindness and friendship.

Goldilocks and The Three Bears are a part of the wishing star quest, too. They proclaim that they wish to become a thriving family of top-notch crooks. But with time we discover that, actually, Goldilocks wants nothing more than a family. And like the others, this bear-and-a-girl quartet eventually realizes that the things they all want are right in front of them. All they need do is take the time to see the loving and nurturing relationships that are already a part of their lives. “Everything is just right,” the porridge-tasting and bed-testing fairytale girl ultimately proclaims.

Big Jack Horner is another character seeking the wishing star, yet another individual in need of some redemption. A Jiminy Cricket-like character attempts to guide this evil bully to a better place. But he never turns a better leaf.

Spiritual Elements

Puss is treated by a small-town doctor, who is also the town’s dentist, barber and witch doctor.

Big Jack Horner is a collector of magical items. We see him use a number of those collectables—unicorn horns, a Midas finger, a crystal ball, a fire-breathing Phoenix, etc.—in pursuit of the wishing star.

That fairytale magic carries over to the wishing star itself and the map that’s used to find the star. The map, for instance, magically changes the surrounding terrain and its challenges depending on who holds it. (When Puss holds it, for example, the landscape becomes a forest of daring pitfalls; when the innocent Perro does so, it becomes a land of colorful hills and flowers.)

We see several churches during the story, including a flashback to one in which a wedding was about to take place.

Sexual Content

There is some romantic tension between Puss and Kitty Softpaws, as you might have expected. It’s even mentioned that the two were about to marry in the past before a betrayal drove them apart. But the tension eventually resolves into a mutual respect, love and dedication to one another.

Violent Content

For a PG-rated kids’ pic, The Last Wish is surprisingly peril-filled and at times fairly violent. Puss in Boots faces off with some huge baddies and fairytale characters (including an unbeatable, red-eyed, wolfy version of Death). And in some thumping/slashing battles, he’s pushed to the point of fearing for his life.

Big Jack Horner and his bag of magic items is also a huge ongoing threat. Horner makes characters disappear in an explosion of confetti, for example, when he shoots them with baby unicorn horns. He thumps others with a large Excalibur sword. And he sets a field of large predator flowers ablaze with the Phoenix’s flames.

Jack also hires a group of killers called the Baker’s Dozen, who wield large axes, swords and hammers. And he’s more than happy to sacrifice the lives of his hired thugs at any turn. One guy, for example, is attacked by a killer flower that sucks all the flesh off his body, leaving nothing but a skeleton behind. At another point, a large group of Jack’s henchmen all fall into a canyon to their death. (It should be noted, however, that none of this deadliness is ever bloody or goopy, but approached in a slapstick, actively cartoony way.)

Elsewhere, fire-arrows are shot, fireworks explode, a giant is felled, and people are pummeled with weapons and blunt objects (such as a piano). A bottle holding a ship manned by tiny Lilliputians is smashed. Someone gets turned to gold. Large Bears slash with sharp claws and snap at characters with huge teeth.

But the most imposing character in the mix is the above-mentioned Death—a character who looms powerfully over Puss and fiercely battles with large, scythe-like blades. Puss is cut twice and heavily bashed about in these conflicts.

Crude or Profane Language

We hear one use of “h—” and one use of “heck” in the dialogue, along with an interrupted use if “bull shhh-” that someone ends with s shushing sound. The words “crap” and “holy frijoles” are used twice. The British crudity “bugger” makes one appearance, and someone is called a “butt nugget.”

At one point Goldilocks and the Three Bears are tossing insults at each other, and Perro wants to join in on “the fun.” So he joyfully lets loose with a string of bleeped words that shocks the bears.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Puss in Boots drinks cream at a bar. And it’s implied that he became inebriated on cream in the past, which led to one of this eight deaths. Puss also gulps coffee amid one battle, and the caffeine leaves him wide-eyed.

Jack eats a magical item that causes him to grow huge.

Other Negative Elements

After realizing that he has no more lives to lose, Puss becomes more and more fearful of death—to the point of panic on a couple occasions. (These moments alone could ratchet up a young watcher’s fear meter.) There are some toilet giggles in the mix, including some smelly cat box humor and a shot of Puss peeing into a toilet with his back to the camera. Puss must escape death through an outhouse toilet and a sewer pipe.

Characters steal a variety of things. A doctor drops leeches down the front of his own shirt.

You don’t often see a sequel surpass the original. But Puss in Boots: The Last Wish leaps over that bar with dynamic aplomb.

His latest animated adventure is large, funny, boisterous and packed with well-defined fairytale characters. Stylized action sequences carry an unexpected sense of speed and impact. The story feels fresh and compelling, and it leads to some sweet lessons about living life well, loving your family, and embracing the precious individuals around you.

But there is one major red flag that families of young and/or sensitive viewers need to consider.

While the filmmakers were pumping up their adventurous tale, they also magnified the peril and the film’s focus on Puss’ panic-stricken fear of death. In fact, the possibility of death lurks at nearly every turn here. One evil character carelessly kills his minions while seeking self-serving power. And another red-eyed fairytale antagonist personifies the intensely hungry, never-wavering character of Death itself.

It’s all designed to guide Puss to upright, life-enriching choices and to teach solid lessons. But the violence and frightening aspects may well rattle younger, sensitive kids who aren’t prepared for the onslaught.

After the credits rolled, I turned to a family with young children sitting next to me and asked what their tykes thought about it. Both little girls (approximately ages 5 and 7) said it was indeed scary … but not too scary, in their opinion. They enjoyed it. I took that as two tiny seals of approval.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) Review

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The Shrek franchise has been around for quite some time, which showcased the potential that DreamWorks Animation Studios could achieve in their flagship series of Ogres, Princesses, Talking Donkeys, and other fairy tales creatures from the “Once Upon a Time” realm. Though a long-running franchise, the Shrek saga has indeed petered out of steam, with the last mainline title Shrek Forever After being released in 2010. A year after that, DreamWorks released the movie Puss in Boots, a spin-off / solo movie project that focused on the character of Puss in Boots, who was introduced in Shrek 2 and starred as a primary supporting character in the following two sequels. Directed by Chris Miller, the film, which starred the voices of Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Zach Galifianakis, follows the adventure of outlaw rogue Puss in Boots, who, along with friends Kitty Softpaws and Humpty Dumpty, are pitted against murderous thugs Jack and Jill for the ownership of three legendary magic beans that leads the trio to great fortune at the giant’s abandoned castle from Jack and the Beanstalk story. While not exactly the best of the franchise, Puss in Boots did receive mostly positive reviews from critics and moviegoers alike, becoming a box office success by grossing $555 million on a production budget of $130 million. While main storyline of Shrek might have been over, Puss in Boots lived on after its 2011 film, with a television series spin-off titled The Adventures of Puss in Boots , which lasted for six seasons (2015-2018). Now, after eleven years since the release of the 2011 motion picture, DreamWorks Animation Studios and director Joel Crawford gears up to return to the world of fairy tale creatures and everyone’s “fearless hero” feline with the sequel film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish . Is this long-awaited follow-up animated adventure worth a glance or has that magic and allure of the Puss in Boots mantra waned over the years in a bygone product of DreamWorks yesteryear?

Adventurous outlaw Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) remains a celebrated hero to the people, using his signature bravado and bravery to fight evildoers, including a recent encounter with a local giant to save the people of Del Mar. With the giant defeated, Puss meets his end by a fallen church bell, learning he’s lost his eighth life, transitioning to his final one and forcing him to reflect on his love for living through dangerous adventures. Accepting his current circumstance, Puss retires and relocates to cat rescue orphanage, which is run by Mama Luma (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). There, the once fearless cat meets Perrito (Harvey Guillen), an eternally optimistic yet unloved dog dressed as one of the cats, looking to make a new best friend. Unfortunately, his stay at this long-term place is short lived as he is hunted by Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears, including Papa (Ray Winstone), Mama (Olivia Coleman), and Baby (Samson Kayo), Crime Family, prompting Puss to recognize that the fight isn’t over as well as learning that the legendary Wishing Star is real, which inspires a mission to seek it out and return his life to the way it was (nine lives and all). Reluctantly joined by Perrito and unexpectedly reunited with Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), Puss and his companions are out to protect a map to the magical star, pursed by Goldie and the Bears as well as gangster crime boss Big Jack Horner (John Mulaney), who is looking to best various magical objects. Unbeknownst to Puss, however, another threat is following the feline’s tracks in the form of a shadowy Wolf assassin (Wagner Moura), who is looking to settle a score with the fabled, fearless hero.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

It’s been sometime seeing I’ve revisited the Shrek franchise (letting alone the character of Puss in Boots from the animated series). I do have to admit that I thought that this cartoon fairy tale saga had somewhat lost its edge after the first two Shrek features. I mean, Shrek and Shrek 2 were brilliant endeavors that had the right balance of action, comedy, and dramatics to make the whole viewing experience fun for the whole family (both young and old). Plus, it was almost like a “breath of fresh air” to see several iconic fairy tale characters, including Antonio Banderas’s Puss in Boots, brought to life in such humorous ways. That being said, Shrek the Third and Shrek: Forever After felt like a stepped down and did not have the same type of palpable energy or memorable bits that of its two predecessors. Why do I mention this? Well, it was because that slight bit of lackluster animated magic from the last two Shrek movies had played a part in viewing 2011’s Puss in Boots . Of course, I loved Antonio Banderas as the character (was favorite character in the entire Shrek saga) as well as the whole idea of centering an entire film around the character was a great idea. In essence, the character, which was mostly a spin-off side character, was strong enough (and endearing enough) to warrant a solo spin-off animated feature. Plus, I did like the introduction of a female lead character in Kitty Softpaws, with actress Salma Hayek delivering a solid voice performance. The back and forth banter between Banderas and Hayek was my favorite part of the movie. That being said, the movie (to me…at least) felt a bit underwhelming and did not have the same type of stamina as the earlier Shrek movies. Story, while entertaining, felt a bit “meh”, the writing was generic and a bit mundane, and just didn’t have the same type of “pizzazz” as something that I was expecting. I know that I a lot of people liked this movie, but I wasn’t too impressed with it. Maybe I felt like the Shrek series (as a whole) had lost its mojo and needed to be retired. As mentioned above, the movie did prove strong enough to make a Netflix series, yet I never had the chance to see The Adventures of Puss in Boots . Although, while many DreamWorks animated projects have seen life beyond the feature films with episodic TV series, I’ve heard that The Adventures of Puss in Boots had a better life cycle than most.

This brings me back to talking about Puss in Boots: The Last Wish , a 2022 fantasy animated motion picture, the fifth Shrek movie franchise, and the follow-up sequel to the 2011 film. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting much about this movie. I think I do vaguely remember hearing that DreamWorks (after the Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon feature film series concluded) had some interest into returning to the Shrek universe. As mentioned above, I felt the franchise (in a nutshell) has run its course, which is probably why the somewhat moved on the from the popular series and decided to focus on new endeavors. Thus, you can imagine my surprise when I heard that DreamWorks Animation announced that a sequel to 2011’s Puss in Boots was in the works. A bit of a headscratcher for me (as for a lot of viewers out there), which saw the resurgence of the iconic character from the Shrek movies return for a second spin-off project. Given the history of DreamWorks have been a bit of “bumpy road” in several of its releases, which is a combination of the company being restructured and seeing several release date changes. Still, I wasn’t fully convinced that moviegoers needed to return to the world of Shrek …. even if it was just another sequel spin-off of everyone’s favorite feline Spanish-style hero. Within time, the film’s promotional marketing campaign began to appear, with the film’s movie trailer playing many times during the “coming attractions” previews when I went to the movies. From the trailer alone, it looked interesting, but I did have some large reservation about this upcoming project. I don’t know…. I just had a weird feeling about it and did not have much interest in seeing it. Of course, I would be seeing it, but I wasn’t too hyped to see this particular animated movie when it was set to be coming out later in 2022. At first, I remember seeing it was originally supposed to be release in September 2022, but then that date was moved to December 21 st , 2022. Then…several days before its release…. early reviews for the film were appearing online, with many being positive reviews and praising the feature; something that got my attention really quickly. So, a few days after its theatrical release, I decided to check out Puss in Boots: The Last Wish one afternoon after work. With my busy work schedule, I did have to wait a few weeks before I got to work on my review for this particular movie. Now, with some free time available, I finally can share my personal thoughts on this animated sequel. And what did I think of it? Well, I actually really liked it. Despite a few minor shortcomings, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a spectacular and visually entertaining sequel endeavor that shines above its predecessor. It certainly pays homage to predecessor and still fits very much “in-line” with the Shrek franchise, but it’s able to stand on its own….and that’s a really good thing!

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is directed by Joel Crawford, whose previous directorial works include such animated films like TV holiday special Trolls Holiday and The Croods: The New Age . Given his background as a storyboard artist for DreamWorks, including Kung Fu Panda , Rise of the Guardians , and Shrek Forever After , as well as his directorial works for the animated studio, Crawford seems like a suitable choice to helm such a project like this one, which seeks to revive an interest within the Shrek series. To that end, I think that Crawford succeeds greatly by providing a great follow-up adventure that is pretty much self-contained by doing its own thing. What do I mean by that? Yes, the movie is set within the Shrek universe, with The Last Wish being brimming with fairy tale characters and other fantastical nuances as well as few references to the larger cinematic world at play (i.e., callbacks to Shrek ). That being said, Crawford and his team utilizes the cinematic space that they are in, yet still manages to make this film stand on its own merits / two feet, which results in a very much solid presentation of a follow-up sequel to the 2011 spin-off project, but still clearly remain fundamentally a proper “next chapter” with the already established Puss in Boots character. Crawford understand this and makes The Last Wish have a very fun and engaging feature that both entertains and creates poignant meaning within the various context of the feature’s presentation.

The film also excels in providing plenty of action throughout the narrative, which is quite frenetic and full of energy whenever displayed. The Shrek movies, including the Puss in Boots feature, were never really filled with action, but Crawford makes that so with The Last Wish . Some moments are played for laughs during these moments, while other times it’s played for dramatic poignancies. Either way, the action in the movie is something that is to be enjoyed and is a welcomed sight for some animated cartoon. In addition to this, this Puss in Boots sequel has plenty of comedy to go around and does provide bountiful laughs throughout the feature. Of course, this being a kid’s movie, there a still a lot of kid-friendly humor throughout the movie’s story, which surely do hit their intended marks, but being a DreamWorks project, there are a few risqué adult humor moments that some of the adult viewers will find a humorous; something that the Shrek franchise is known for. In fact, I actually laughed quite a lot while watching this and brought the most I laughed during a 2022 picture. Thus, the comedy in The Last Wish is quite spot on and I loved it. Interestingly, Crawford and his animators also utilize a unique style of animation (more on that below), but it also blends together 3D and 2D style of animation that creates such a beautiful and visually impressive, animated feature that stands tall and proud amongst its predecessors. In short, I think Crawford was the right person for the job (in the director’s chair) in making The Last Wish feels like a fantastic follow-up sequel that works and is a masterful job in breathing new life into an old franchise.

As for the story, I think that The Last Wish is great and very mature story that explores a lot of heavy themes / messages, yet still retains the charming and fun throughout. The film’s writers, which include Paul Fisher, Tommy Swerdlow, and Tom Wheeler, incorporate several influences in the story of The Last Wish, with some drawing parallels to 2017’s Logan or even Clint Eastwood’s The Man with  No Name trilogy. Like both movie endeavors, especially in Logan , the story for The Last Wish draws inspirations from western lore / depictions of aged, old gunslinger cowboy that is confronted by his own mortality after a lifetime of greatness and adventure. With the usage of plains, several Spanish style of places (along with music influences and dialogue), one can easily see the similarities, which I believe was the intentions of the writers. On that notion, I do give credit to them, with the movie offering a animated Western-style adventure that mixes cartoon humor and heart, fairy tale callbacks and references, and cowboy “wild west” mantra. Coinciding with that, the writers for The Last Wish is also the darkest and most mature films that DreamWorks Animation has ever produced, with several powerful themes, including death and wrestling with some hard (sometimes cold) truths such as end up being alone, being betrayed by loved ones, and those looking for friendships. It can be a little bit darker than normal animated kid-friendly movies, which can be a little problematic sometimes (more on that below), but I do give credit to the film’s writers, with the movie’s script manages to tackle such hard-hitting narratives and emotional moods without losing sight of being fun, entertaining, and leaving an uplifting message about embracing every like it’s your last. This is indeed a palpable message that The Last Wish leaves its viewers with and I, for one, welcome the mature narrative (along with its darker elements) for a more engaging and well-rounded endeavor.

In the presentation category, The Last Wish excels and dazzles viewers with such animation nuances that generate such vibrancy and colorful palette throughout. While the Shrek franchise, including the first Puss in Boots movie, had the more traditional style of animation that the series was known for (CGI rendering animation) across the board, this particular film breaks that particular formula and utilizes some amazing style of animation to help bring this cartoon adventure to life. Much like other memorable animated films of late that embraces a different style of animation such as Mitchells vs. the Machines and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , is fantastic technicolor marvel that uses painterly-like style to give the film a sublime blend of a fairy-tale storybook look and appeal. This results in a very dynamic and vivid animated feature that sparkles immensely with such vibrant colors and brightness that it makes for a very visual feast for the eyes to soak up. Every scene is intricate detailed and embraces with such wonderful style of animation rendering. Speaking of rendering, The Last Wish , much like Into the Spider-Verse did, helps to create such diverse and creative camera movement by changing the frame rate between 24 and 12 frames per second, which showcases some really unique sequences of action. To me, it’s cleverly done and helps build tension / drama in the movie and adds that extra layer of heightened cinematic to the proceedings. Thus, the film’s “behind the scenes” team, including Nate Wragg (production design), Joseph Feinsilver (art direction), and entire visual artist that brought The Last Wish to life, especially when demonstrating how cinematic and astounding the movie is when tackling a wide variety of moments, including action, comedy, and drama. Lastly, the film’s score, which was composed by Heitor Pereira, is a terrific one that helps build upon the movie’s scenes…..whether it is a bombastic action one with heroic flourishes or a quieter dialogue driven moment that helps draw in a viewer’s attention to detail. Pereira’s work on The Last Wish is just fantastic to listen throughout the picture. Addition, the movie does offer a nice selection vocal music to the soundtrack and helps provide another lyrical flavor to the feature’s proceedings.

While I do greatly enjoyed a lot about this movie, The Last Wish does a few minor points of criticisms that I felt made the movie feel a bit tad rough around its edges. Perhaps the one that I mentioned above can be also seeing as a slight negative on the feature. Which one? Well, the part where the movie is bit more dark than its predecessor. Matured narratives in an on-going story / series is (again) a welcomed one for this franchise, especially since that plays a part in the feature’s main plot, yet that doesn’t come without a few hiccups. Since this movie is gear towards the tween age (even a little younger, in my opinion), it does create a few times where the movie treads into more darker / scarier moments that some of the targeted demographic viewers might get a bit afraid of. Several moments, especially those one including the character of the Wolf, could possibly be nightmare fueled for some of the younger, sensitive viewers out there. In addition, several dark moments are also on place throughout the movie, especially found in Jack Horner’s treatment of his minions, which are counterbalanced by humor, yet still feel a tad darker than normal animated endeavors.

As for the story itself, The Last Wish’s narrative plot is a bit predicable, despite its attempts to elevate everything with its visual style, humor, and characters. Again, doesn’t fully bother me as I did find the plot of the movie to be intriguing, yet there are still those “moments” where a viewer, despite a person’s age, can see how everything is going to play out. Also, I do feel that the film could’ve utilized a few more plotting and “adventure” scenes throughout the progression. Yes, I do give the movie credit for creating a solid project with a good pace, but, after watching The Last Wish several times, I felt like there could’ve been more “smaller” action scenes and / or adventure moments in the film. Additionally, to the notion of villains, the movie does a few way too many antagonist that the movie incorporates throughout the narrative. It’s not a complete “deal breaker”, but it does feel like there is too many “cooks in the villain’s kitchen” in the movie and the script could’ve easily weeded out one or even possibly two antagonists out there final edit and still retain the fundamentals to The Last Wish’s story. Collectively, these points of criticisms don’t exactly necessarily derail the movie in any way shape or form, but (to me, at least) are just minor blemishes on an otherwise solid sequel endeavor.

The cast in The Last Wish is solid across the board, with the assemblage of acting talents involved on this animated project bring their “A” game and theatrical energy to bring these characters (some of them iconic fairy tale characters) to life in a fun and amusing way. Perhaps the best one of the entire film would be the feature’s central main protagonist in the form of Puss in Boots, who is once again by actor Antonio Banderas. Known for his roles in Desperado , The Mask of Zorro , and The 13 th Warrior , has certainly had made a name for himself throughout his career, with special attention (for this movie review) towards his animated voicework in the Shrek franchise, with his debut back in Shrek 2 as the legendary Puss in Boots character. To be sure, Banderas made the character his own, with the iconic character adding that Spanish flavor to his adventurous swagger. It’s been quite sometime since Banderas has stepped back in the role (or rather boots) of Puss, but he does it with such effortless ease by sliding back into the character’s bravado and personality. As mentioned above, I do like the film’s thematic message about death and finding meaning in life (appreciating the life you have) , which is basically the story arc for the both the movie and for Puss himself. It is a much better character arc than the first Puss in Boots spin-off project and, though it may be a bit predictable in its undertaking, it’s still a wholesome message to discuss and talk about within a character who is quite fearless throughout his life. Plus, Banderas hasn’t lost his touch and generates plenty of emotions (humor and heart) in his return to Puss. In the end, it was great to see / hear Banderas back as the infamous Puss in Boots and he clearly hasn’t lost a step in voicing such a vibrant and lively character.

The second major player in the movie is also another returning character from the Shrek franchise, with the character of Kitty Softpaws, who is once again voiced by actress Salma Hayek. Known for her roles in Desperado , Frida , and House of Gucci , Hayek is no stranger to this fairy tale franchise, with the actress reprising her character role from the 2011 spin-off film, which introduced Kitty Softpaws to the Shrek series. Like Banderas, Hayek easily slides back into the role of Kitty (a role she hasn’t played in over 11 years) and simply hasn’t lost her touch in providing a very energetic and engaging character. Since most of the character’s backstory / heavy lifting occurred during the first Puss in Boots film, Crawford and his team “jump” right into Kitty’s involvement in The Last Wish’s main plot, without rehashing a lot of unnecessary detail about her character. Sure, there isn’t much character growth in comparison to her other character leads in the film, but it’s really great to see such Kitty thrown “back into the mix” of the Puss in Boots narrative. Likewise, Hayek is still fantastic as Kitty and the constant “back and forth” banter between her and Banderas’s Puss is the highlight of the feature.

The last of three main character is Perrito, a friendly and naïve dog who is looking for some friendship / companionship with Puss (along with Kitty) on their adventure, who is voiced by actor Harvey Guillen. Known for his roles in The Internship , Eye Candy , and What We Do in the Shadows , Guillen is quite the household name that many recognize, especially in comparing to his lead co-stars of Banderas and Hayek. That being said, Guillen feels right at home with his co-stars throughout the movie by bring to life Perrito in such a lively and animated way. Guillen brings the right amount of likeability and fun optimism to the character and makes for one of the best new additions to the franchise. Plus, as mentioned, Guillen fits perfectly along side the banter of Banderas’s Puss and Hayek’s Kitty (as well as the rest of the film’s character Perrito interacts with). The character’s backstory quite fits into the movie’s themes and message and acts as a great foil to Puss’s determination of getting his wish. I personally loved him in the movie and I certainly hope that if a follow-up sequel gets made that Guillen’s Perrito returns.

Looking past the feature’s main heroes, The Last Wish has several main antagonist that causes trouble for Puss, Kitty, and Perrito on their journey. Perhaps the “big bad” in the movie would be the character of Big Jack Horner, a feared pastry chef and crime lord who is also after the Wishing Star throughout the movie, and who is voiced by actor John Mulaney ( Big Mouth and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ). I think that Mulaney does a very good job in voicing Big Jack, who has plenty of the loud and boisterous personality to the character (as well as touch of snark bravado). Plus, much like the previous movies set in the universe, it’s kind of amusing to see such iconic fairy tale character (well, nursery rhyme character) reimagined as a villainous mobster crime boss. The problem? Well, much like what I mentioned above, The Last Wish has a bit “too many villains” running around and it sort of gets a bit too crowded. I do understand the involvement of the other antagonist, but Big Jack Horner sort of is the weakest villain. He’s definitely a sizeable threat (both his physical size and his ambitions to reach the Wishing Star first), but the reason for his main villainy seems weak and kind of vague and doesn’t really have much connection to the main characters rather than the rest of the bad guys. Thus, Big Jack Horner, while voiced solidly by Mulaney, could’ve been easily eliminated from the film and still retain the same type of energy and conformity to the narrative.

Who actually fares much better (in my opinion) as The Last Wish’s villain would be the character of “The Wolf”, a deadly assassin who pursues Puss in Boots throughout the movie and who is voiced by Wagner Moura ( Narcos and Elysium ). Everything about this character was terrific. He was cool looking (love the character design of him), definitely intimidating, and proved to be a worthy foe in the movie, especially with his connection to Puss. Plus, Moura does exceptionally well in providing the voice for the Wolf and brings such a wonderful voice for the character that’s both menacing and sly. Much like what I said earlier, this particular character can be a little bit scary for some of the younger viewers out there as he designed to be a bit more menacing and evil looking than say Big Jack Horner. Heck, he’s probably the most “scariest” villain in the entire Shrek franchise. So, again, just a small word of caution for some younger viewers out there. Still, regardless of that point, I felt that the character of the Wolf was the best villain in the whole franchise (let alone in The Last Wish ) and, along with his design look and voice work by Moura, makes for one devious antagonist for such a character like Puss in Boots to face off against. Loved it!

The other villains in The Last Wish (i.e. Goldilocks and the three bears)are pretty good and offer up some lighthearted moments in amongst their own bickering with one another. Examining them all creates some fun, with the voice acting for these iconic fairy tale characters proves to be quite effective in their representation in the film. This includes actress Florence Pugh ( Little Women and Don’t Worry Darling ) as Goldilocks), actress Olivia Coleman ( The Crown and The Favourite ) as Mama Bear, actor Ray Winstone ( The Departed and Beowulf ) as Papa Bear, and actor Samson Kayo ( Bloods and Our Flag Means Death ) as Baby Bear. Collectively, these acting talents that play these characters are great and definitely riff on their fairy tale character personas, yet also interject their own theatrical personality into them (i.e. Goldilocks as the somewhat “ringleader” of the group, Papa Bear with a grizzled fatherly figure, Mama Bear as the lovely warmth motherly persona, etc.). This makes their iterations in The Last Wish wonderfully and memorable throughout, with the classic Goldilocks and three Bears characters are terrific addition to both the movie and a part of the Shrek universe.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Down to his last of his nine lives, the legendary and heroic swashbuckler feline Puss in Boots must find a way to reach the fabled Wishing Star (to wish for more lives) before his enemies get their first in the movie Puss in Boots: The Last Wish . Director Joel Crawford latest film takes what was established in the 2011 film and propels the narrative forward, with plenty of merits to make this second spin-off cartoon endeavor worth telling and experiencing for both old and new fans of Shrek universe. While there a few elements that might good or bad on a viewer’s opinions (several darker elements) as well as a several too many characters in a few parts, the movie finds great experience within its narrative, with attention to detail from Crawford’s direction, a deep and meaningful themes / messages, great action sequences, hilarious comedy, an amazing visual animation / presentation, a great soundtrack, colorful characters, and terrific voice acting across the board. Personally, I really liked this movie. Yes, there were a few minor nitpicks that I had with the movie, but I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed the feature. It was funny, had plenty of heart, a lot of flashy action scenes, and proved to be quite effective spin-off endeavor (i.e. able to stand on its own). My expectations were definitely exceeded and that’s a great thing. It’s probably the best movie of the Shrek franchise since Shrek 2 and definitely much better than the first Puss in Boots movie….at least in my opinion. Thus, my recommendation for the movie would a be quite a favorable “highly recommended”, especially to longtime fans of the series that are looking for something new in this fairy tale inspired cartoon universe. The ending of the film leaves the door open for a possible continuation adventure in the near future, which, considering how popular and well-received this movie has been by both critics and moviegoers, seems almost like a forgone conclusion….and I, for one, would welcome it. In the end, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is an exciting and widely animated spin-off project to the Shrek main narrative, providing a dazzling adventure that has plenty of heart, humor, and spectacle from everyone’s favorite feline.

4.5 Out of 5 (Highly Recommended)

Released on: december 21st, 2022, reviewed on: january 4th, 2023.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish  is 100 minutes long and rated PG for action/violence, rude humor/language, and some scary moments

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Reviews

The film’s biggest issues come down to the choice of animation techniques for fight sequences, which makes the events feel a little choppy and overly stylized

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 5, 2023

Puss N Boots 2 is a shockingly phenomenal movie tackling much deeper themes than one would expect from a kids movie.

Full Review | Aug 16, 2023

It is designed that both young and old should find the tale equally as enjoyable.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Aug 9, 2023

Overflowing with ideas that all land, DreamWorks’s latest offering is surprisingly nuanced, wholly cathartic, and one of the best films of the year.

Full Review | Aug 6, 2023

FANTASTIC. Exhilarating Action, Phenomenal Animation, Perfect Voice Acting, & an argument could be made for the best animated film of 2022! 

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

Dreamworks is back baby.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is the last-minute surprise of the year. The film has all the charm the audience has come to expect from the Shrek standout, but with a blindsiding amount of heart and humor.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2023

The script is consistently funny, foregoing the snarky self-skewering that defined the Shrek franchise, swapping it for a more timeless sensibility consisting of whip-cracking one-liners and character-based comedy.

Full Review | Jul 14, 2023

It's darn good!

Full Review | Jun 28, 2023

The Last Wish is that rare thing: an animated sequel that actually delivers.

Full Review | Jun 2, 2023

What a time we live in where our cartoon characters can give us the space to explore mental health and the importance of leaning on our community.

Full Review | Apr 14, 2023

Riding the line between the silliness of the "Shrek" Universe from which it came and something far more Grimm, "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" explores the value of appreciating where you are and what you have ...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 5, 2023

It does a fine job of balancing its knockabout humor with a surprisingly somber tale of how the specter of death can limit one’s ability to fully embrace and enjoy life.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 5, 2023

The Last Wish is a spellbinding, funny, and gorgeous piece of animated storytelling that restores this franchise to past glory. The real cat in the hat is back, and his boots are very much made for walking!

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 1, 2023

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish takes necessary risks without losing to the assumption that all sequels lose their luster.

Full Review | Original Score: 8.5/10 | Feb 22, 2023

Emotional and surprisingly excellent, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is one of Dreamworks' best and a real crowd-pleaser.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Feb 20, 2023

... the film is enjoyable in its way, partly thanks to a painted style that rejects the usual sheen of modern animation.

Full Review | Feb 14, 2023

Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado get the tone Goldilocks-right — not too scary, not too bland — and add some stylish angular slow-motion fight sequences.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 14, 2023

Its adventure loses its charm when the cat and his gang often travel through the same easy terrain where the surprise of fairy tales is absent. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Feb 10, 2023

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is an 11 year sequel with something to prove, and while its meta-textual elements don’t quite reach the highs of Shrek 2, it’s a work of art you must see this holiday season.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Feb 10, 2023

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

January 31, 2023 by Robert Kojder

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish , 2022.

Directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado. Featuring the voice talents of Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Wagner Moura, John Mulaney, Harvey Guillén, Samson Kayo, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Anthony Mendez, and Conrad Vernon.

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

Legend has it that all cats have nine lives. Co-directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado (with a script from Paul Fisher) have seen fit to catch up with the bounty hunter-turned-adventurer Puss (once again voiced by Antonio Banderas, essentially playing a heightened and animated version of his roguish and romantic on-screen persona) for a surprisingly thoughtful and existential riff on that concept with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish . 

After causing a fuss at a governor’s party while, in the process, defeating an awakened nearby angry giant, Puss meets his demise for what turns out to be the eighth time. As the doctor stresses to Puss that he’s down to his last life (there is also a pleasantly silly montage depicting how he lost each of those lives), it’s advised that it might be time to give up treasure hunting, sword fighting, and swashbuckling for good, even if it means becoming something he despises: a house pet. Taking the words to heart, Puss buries his trademark gear while checking himself into a home for cats run by well, a crazy cat lady (voiced by Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

Meanwhile, the various fairytale animals that have inhabited this Shrek universe throughout the years, specifically some new ones here in the form of Goldilocks (voiced by Florence Pugh, who has found another calling in her already stellar career) and the family of three bears (Olivia Colman voices Mama Bear, Ray Winstone voices Papa Bear, and Samson Kayo voices Baby Bear) searching for a mythical Wishing Star capable of granting any wish one time. The bears are her muscle, so to speak, under the impression that the wish will be made for the four of them to run a family business.

Then there is Big Jack Horner (voiced by John Mulaney), a truly lost cause that wants to wish for sole possession of all the magic in the world. He carries with him a bottomless bag of fairytale resources for his quest, at one point unintentionally bringing out everyone’s favorite conscience-guiding cricket who amusingly tries over and over to reach an emotional breakthrough with the humongous bully, hoping to find some humanity or reason for his evil ways, coming away empty-handed and less patient every time. It’s a welcome running gag that taps into what has always been one of the better aspects of these Shrek universe movies: finding absurd uses for the fairytale characters.

As Puss tries adapting to domestic advice (growing a long beard in the process), he also meets a tiny orphaned dog posing as a cat for a place to stay. Nicknamed Perro and voiced by Harvey Guillén, the hyperactive dog is filled with naivety and innocence, simply seeking a friend. Following an interaction with Puss and Goldilocks, where the former learns of the Wishing Star and that he would be able to wish for his lives back, it quickly becomes time for another adventure, this time bringing along Perro. Along the way, they run into Puss’ former flame and partner in crime, Kitty Softpaws (voiced by a returning Salma Hayek Pinault), catching up on their history between the years.

While this seems like a stacked cast of characters for a brisk, animated flick, the filmmakers are genuinely interested in exploring the nine lives concept, even introducing Death (voiced by Wagner Moura) by way of The Big Bad Wolf, ominously appearing and intimidating whenever Puss finds himself in a physical conflict that could be the last of him for good. His life flashes before his eyes, further tapping into something self-reflexive about a life lived, whether or not it has been fulfilling, what really matters, and how to go about the future. The connection that many of these characters are orphans is also not lost on the script, with many craving more than necessary to be happy (Perro is happy enough to have friends, while Goldilocks’ subplot is also unexpectedly moving).

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is also vibrant fun, frequently switching up animation styles (the action sequences almost play out like comic book strips) with impressive visuals, including a forest that transforms itself into something brighter and safer or darker and perilous based on who is holding the magical map and the decisions they have made in life. There’s also a tremendously catchy opening musical number to set the stage that, as thematically weightier as this is for an animated feature, the filmmakers are also here to deliver 100 minutes of dazzling joy. Bolstered by a magnificent ensemble allowing his characters to pop off the screen with personality, they have succeeded. It’s a sequel that has those irresistible sympathetic huge cat eyes; you can’t help but be won over by it.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★  / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check  here  for new reviews, follow my  Twitter  or  Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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Product Description

Everyone's favorite leche-loving, swashbuckling, fear-defying feline, Puss in Boots, returns in a new adventure from the Shrek universe as the daring outlaw discovers that his passion for peril and disregard for safety have taken their toll. Puss has burned through eight of his nine lives, though he lost count along the way. Getting those lives back will send Puss in Boots into the Black Forest to find the mythical Wishing Star on his grandest quest yet. With only one life left, Puss will have to humble himself and ask for help from his former partner and nemesis: Kitty Softpaws. They are joined in their journey by a chatty and cheerful mutt named Perro. Together, our trio of heroes will need to stay one step ahead of the fairytale realm's craftiest crooks including Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Product details

• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.81 x 5.43 x 0.51 inches; 2.82 ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Joel Crawford
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ 4K, Digital_copy
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 103 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ February 28, 2023
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Studio Distribution Services
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BPWQ7JL9
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2
• #106 in Kids & Family Blu-ray Discs
• #213 in Comedy (Movies & TV)

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