Movie Review: Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
2022 has been a successful year for animation. From Guillermo Del Toro’s retelling of Pinocchio on Netflix to studios like Illumination and DreamWorks releasing material that exceeded Pixar’s output, this year has been bright. One of the year’s shiniest gems was DreamWorks’ Puss In Boots: The Last Wish.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish is one of the greatest animated films this year and possibly DreamWorks’ greatest film of late. The movie has already been nominated for multiple awards, such as the Casting Society of America Artios Award for Best Casting, the Eddie Award for Best Edited Animated Feature Film, and the Academy Award for Best Animated Film. And it’s no surprise as to why—that’s not to like about this vibrant, exciting, and funny film?
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish is a sequel to the 2011 DreamWorks movie Puss In Boots. The movie follows Puss in Boots on a journey to find the wishing star, hoping to get his lives back after he realizes that he is on his last of nine. He joins other characters like Perrito and Kitty Softpaws to find the wishing star. Meanwhile, other villains are after Puss in Boots and this wishing star, such as Goldilocks and her criminal family of three bears (Papa, Mamma, and Baby), Big Jack Horner, a character based on a forgotten nursery rhyme, and a mysterious wolf, who is not after the wishing star, but is there to claim Puss in Boots’s last life. On paper, the story looks pretty straightforward, predictable, and overstuffed with an extensive roster of characters, but in practice, the movie executes its story and characters almost perfectly. The runtime of the film never feels too slow or too fast—as Goldi would say, the pace feels just right. It never feels like these characters are overstaying their welcome, (besides Jack Horner, perhaps).
The greatest part of this movie has to be the animation. Rather than sticking to the same style of the first Puss in Boots movie and the rest of the Shrek franchise, this movie goes for a paintbrush aesthetic to best resemble the fairy tales they’re based on. As a result, the entire film feels like it was ripped straight from a children’s book rather than looking edgy and raunchy, like the Shrek movies before it. Sure, it takes notes from some of Sony Animation’s movies like The Mitchells vs. The Machines or Into the Spider-Verse, but this movie feels like its own work of art in a way that DreamWorks has never really touched. I hope DreamWorks sticks to this animation style in their new films and continues to amaze us with their talented animation team.
The movie also has very mature themes that some older teenagers and adults could understand, while still having things for the kids to enjoy. Between Goldilocks and the three bears’ storyline, there’s an overlying theme of found family that can be found through Goldi’s character arc. Puss’s story tackles rather adult topics, such as anxiety, mortality, and toxic masculinity; Puss initially refuses to talk about his feelings and bottles up his emotions, but learns through Perrito and Kitty to be more open. Unlike some other animated projects like Boss Baby and Trolls, this movie is an animated movie targeted toward kids, but treats you like an adult, rather than an animated movie that is targeted towards adults and treats you like a kid.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish has received praise from critics and audiences alike. As previously mentioned, this movie has been nominated for over ten awards, including the Academy Award for the best-animated feature. The film is also certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 95% and an audience score of 94%. These scores and reception have been the most positive for a DreamWorks movie since the release of How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.
Overall, DreamWorks has outdone itself with Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, and I encourage everyone reading this to support this movie. If you have friends or family, bring them to watch this magnum opus of a DreamWorks film!