If you’re like me, living in a movie landscape oversaturated with sequels and remakes that don’t always leave a mark, you have reservations about paying to see one in theaters. These were my sentiments exactly when my friends recommended we see “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” in theaters. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Shrek universe, and I expected the movie to be fun and nostalgic, but not necessarily good.
I certainly wasn’t expecting to have my world absolutely rocked by the escapades of a talking Spanish cat. As I sat in my seat-warming recliner in the theater, eating Sour Patch Kids, I experienced a range of emotions: hilarity, exhilaration, nostalgia, melancholy, admiration and pure, unbridled joy. This movie pulls at your heartstrings as much as it revels in clever Gen Z humor, appealing to both young audiences and adults who grew up watching the Shrek movies. I wanted to rewatch it almost immediately after finishing it.
“The Last Wish” follows the 2011 Oscar-nominated solo feature “Puss in Boots.” 11 years in the making, the sequel retains the same adventurous, witty charm as its predecessor, but is elevated by a vibrant, anime-inspired animation style similar to “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse.”
We follow Puss (voiced by the one and only Antonio Banderas) as he realizes that he has burned through eight of his nine lives and must forfeit his reckless ways. Displeased with retirement, he sets out on one last epic adventure to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives. For a children’s movie, “The Last Wish” is surprisingly full of mature themes, such as fear in the face of mortality. We even see the headstrong Puss in Boots have a panic attack, one of the most realistic portrayals of anxiety I’ve seen in a kid’s movie. Simultaneously, it preaches the values of teamwork and selflessness in a non-cliche, touching way.
Along the way, Puss meets up again with his ex-lover and rival Kitty Soft Paws (Salma Hayek). In typical Shrek fashion, he also encounters classic fairy-tale characters like Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears. Other celebrity appearances included Olivia Colman and John Mulaney, who gives humor to the sociopathic fairy-tale villain, Little Jack Horner.
Going into this movie, I had my doubts that, like other sequels, “The Last Wish” might botch the lasting legacy of Shrek, which has become an emblem of pop (and meme) culture. Instead, the movie brought new life to Puss in Boots’ story, while still paying homage to his origins in Shrek. If you want to warm the heart of your inner child, go see this at your local theater (it shines on the big screen) before it’s too late. You won’t regret it.
