Endlessly entertaining and surprisingly deep and philosophical, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is the rare sequel that manages to surpass the original, proving once more that DreamWorks still hasn’t lost its touch.
Overall Score: 9/10
Image: DreamWorks Animation / Universal Pictures
I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Shrek franchise (don’t ask me why), so the fact that 2011’s Puss in Boots was getting a sequel was not — at least until the first trailer came out — in any way on my radar. That being said, I’m extremely glad that I did watch this film because damn is it good!
Taking place who knows how long after the first movie, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish finds our titular hero in somewhat of a tight spot. See, Puss is down to his ninth and final life, and on top of that, he’s being chased by a mysterious and ruthless hooded wolf. So, in order to regain his previous eight lives and save himself, Puss must embark on a journey to find the magical Wishing Star.
From the get-go, it becomes pretty obvious that The Last Wish is a film that deals with deep philosophical themes like mortality, death, and fear. What’s not immediately evident, however, is that it’s also got things to say about love, family, the importance of valuing one’s own life, and appreciating the things that we often take for granted. That’s a lot for one movie to handle, but The Last Wish makes the task of doing so seem relatively easy, allowing each of these different themes and their related subplots enough time to breathe while also laying out an entertaining and deeply personal story.
Now, naturally, you can’t have a good movie without having good characters, and boy does The Last Wish have an abundance of them. Kitty, Perrito, and the Wolf are some of the film’s biggest highlights, and all three get some of the best lines of dialogue. Then there’s Goldilocks and the Three Bears and "Big" Jack Horner, all of whom are clever adaptations of their respective classic fairy tale/nursery rhyme counterparts that are utilized effectively throughout The Last Wish’s story. But in the end, it’s Puss himself, of course, who receives the best and most meaningful character arc of all, and it’s great to see him learn from his past mistakes and truly grow as an individual.
Overall, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a delightful return to the world of talking cats dressed like Zorro. It’s a sequel that manages to accomplish the rare feat of simultaneously living up to its predecessor and also surpassing it in every way imaginable. And like most other DreamWorks movies, while it’s certainly fun and funny (as well as being beautifully animated), it’s also quite mature, meaningful, thoughtful, and profound. And while it probably won’t win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (as it’ll more than likely lose to Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio), I can at least take comfort in the fact that it did receive a very well-deserved nomination.
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