Ever since his debut in 2004’s ‘Shrek 2’, DreamWorks’ swashbuckling feline has been charming his way on the big screen, even getting his own self-titled spinoff solo film in 2011, plus various appearances in short films, theatre shows, and video games as part of the Shrek franchise, as well as a few of his own television series. This leaves some big boots to fill in Puss’s latest adventure, ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’.

After the events of ‘Shrek Forever After’, Puss becomes a legend after slaying a giant monster but is accidentally crushed by a large bell and losing his eighth life. After waking up, he learns he has only one life remaining. Initially, he carries on like normal, but after losing a battle against a Big Bad Wolf who chose to spare his final life, Puss realises that his best days may be behind him and decides to hang up his boots to live the rest of his life as a regular domesticated cat.

After a few years of living an incredibly mundane life at Mama Luna’s, Puss meets an overly positively happy dog who tries to befriend him, before Goldilocks and the Three Bears Crime Family come barging into the house. Puss and the unnamed Chihuahua he later names Perrito, escape together. After hearing rumours about a Wishing Star that can grant a single wish, Puss is back in the Boots, and Perrito of course tags along.

After reuniting with Kitty Softpaws, together they set off to find this star and wish back all his lives, while also crossing paths with Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Jack Horner and the Baker’s Dozen. Even though Puss has his confidence again, he still experiences some PTSD with the looming presence of that Big Bad Wolf that almost took his 9th life.

It’s been 11 years since the first Puss in Boots movie and 12 years since the last Shrek movie. Antonio Banderas once again reprises his role as the title character bringing back his Zorro-inspired Hispanic charm, and Salma Hayek once again graces us with her role as Kitty Softpaws. Much like in the first movie, Puss and Kitty have fantastic chemistry on screen together continuing their unfinished romance story from the previous film.

Harvey Guillén as Perrito is adorable and annoying at the same time, but you can’t help but love him. He can be described as the Donkey of this movie but has his own distinct personality that easily helps him stand out. His positive and happy outlook on life fits perfectly with his goal of one day becoming a therapy dog. The way he tells his own backstory in such a light-hearted and enthusiastic manner is a real testament to his positivity because it would actually be very depressing and traumatic for a normal person, or dog to experience. Perrito will steal your heart.

Goldilocks apparently didn’t run away from the Three Bears’ home after all and have certainly come a long way since their fairy tale from the 19th century. In this film, they’re portrayed as a crime family and take a lot of inspiration from classic British crime movies with their personalities and mannerisms.

Florence Pugh voices Goldilocks, while Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear are voiced by Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, and Samson Kayo respectively. Their performances are incredibly entertaining and really stand out on their own, so they could easily have their own spinoff movie. Their screen time isn’t overdone, isn’t underwhelming, it’s just right.

John Mulaney portrays one of the main villains, “Big” Jack Horner who has grown up quite a lot since the nursery rhyme, Little Jack Horner Sat In A Corner. Turns out Little Jack hasn’t learnt his lesson from his time in the corner, sticking his thumb in other people’s business. Mulaney’s performance makes Jack Horner easy to hate with his underhanded and dastardly antics.

With a ton of characters crammed into a 1 hour 40 minute movie, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish does an incredible job including everyone, giving them all a good amount of screen time, without anyone feeling left out and not overshadowing the main characters. Everyone just falls into place effortlessly, each having their own backstories and motives for finding the Wishing Star. While all this is going on, the Big Bad Wolf is still looming and watching from a distance. Wagner Moura’s performance gives him an eery and terrifying presence.

The art style retains that cartoonish look that helped give the Shrek franchise and other DreamWorks’ their unique identities. The characters are highly detailed with every bit of fur moving along with the animal characters’ movements and facial expressions.

Some action scenes have a slightly laggy animation style, similar to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which had it for the entire movie, not just select scenes like in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. It feels like the movie can’t decide what animation style it wants at times but nonetheless, the action scenes are exciting and full of humour that everyone can enjoy.

The film’s score was composed by Heitor Pereira with various singers providing their talents to the soundtrack. One song, in particular, was actually performed by Antonio Banderas himself, adding to the Latin influence of the overall soundtrack. The music throughout the entire film has something for every occasion.

After 11 long years, the boot-wearing anthropomorphic cat has clawed his way back to the spotlight. The original Puss in Boots film was definitely a fun movie, but its sequel just improves on everything. The protagonists, antagonists, supporting cast, and background characters all have their place and just fit in perfectly.

The charm and humour of everyone, the overall presentation, the jokes and references to everyone’s fairy tales and nursery rhymes all come together to create a world full of wonder, joy, magic, laughter, triumph, and tragedy. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a must-see and the perfect family movie for the holidays that everyone of all ages can enjoy. Puss in Boots has left his iconic mark once again.

Written by: Sammy Hanson