Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Shatters Expectations:

In its visually flavorful spin-off to the Shrek franchise, Dreamworks shatters all expectations with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with its thought-provoking themes on mortality and death.

Playing around with the superstition that cats have nine lives, our titular espada-wielding feline learns that he has only one life left. Distraught by this news, Puss reluctantly retires from adventuring and chooses to live out the rest of his days as a housecat for Mama Luna. But when the crime family of Goldilocks and the Three Bears mentions a magical Wishing Star that can grant any wish to someone bearing its map, Puss decides to disembark on a journey to restore his nine lives. Pursued by the corrupt pastry chef Jack Horner, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and a mysterious wolf, Puss finds himself in his most high-stakes adventure yet, filled with new friends and old reunions.

An undeniable gem in Dreamworks’ repertoire, the film’s cinematography complements its stunning animation as each dynamic shot flows seamlessly into the next. Puss sprints, dodges, and spins through the air with the perfect blend of cartoonish exaggeration and believability. The snappy dialogue and pacing of the film keep it entertaining throughout its runtime.

Despite its colorfully imaginative exterior, the film’s serious moments are well-grounded as Puss grapples with the inevitability of death. In the post-Toy Story era of storytelling, the animation industry has explored more sobering topics from the deeply spiritual exploration of the meaning of life in the 2020 Oscar-winning Best Animated Feature Film Soul to the gender disparities under the Taliban’s rule of Afghanistan in the 2017 Best Independent Animated Feature Film The Breadwinner. The film takes a well-balanced approach to the subject matter — not as convoluted and ambitious as Pixar’s Soul nor as mature as The Breadwinner. The Carpe Diem-esque messaging is far from life-changing, but it is surprisingly well-developed, especially considering that the same studio had notoriously produced films like The Boss Baby, The Bee Movie, and Shark Tale.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a fun watch for friends and family,