Dec. 2022 saw the release of a long-awaited sequel to a beloved franchise, more than a decade in the making. You may be thinking of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, but in doing so, you would be overlooking one of the best and most heartfelt movies of the year: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. In the latest installment of the Shrek franchise, the iconic Antonio Banderas returns as the swashbuckling feline hero, Puss. On the last of his nine lives, Puss embarks on an epic quest to find the Wishing Star to restore his nine lives, joined by friends and pursued by relentless enemies.
Director Joel Crawford’s latest film is a masterpiece in every way — with incredible writing, acting, and a timely reminder of all the artistry animation has to offer. Puss in Boots is visually stunning, and every frame is a work of art. Utilizing lowered frame rates and a touch of traditional animation effects on top of the 3D (a technique that has become increasingly popular since Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse), the film is impossible to look away from, and feels over far too soon by the end of its one hour and forty-minute runtime. Alongside Banderas, Salma Hayek returns as Kitty Softpaws, Puss’ partner in life and crime, and Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows) makes his introduction as an adorably (and almost infuriatingly) optimistic chihuahua called Perrito. But the star-filled cast doesn’t end there: John Mulaney lends his voice to Jack Horner, Goldilocks is voiced by oscar-nominee Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Black Widow), and her adoptive family of three bears are played brilliantly by Olivia Colman (Oscar-winner for The Favourite), Ray Winstone (Beowulf), and Samson Kayo. Combine the stellar cast with the expertly crafted screenplay by Tommy Swerdlow and Paul Fisher, and the result is a triumph of a film with plenty of heart, humor, and fun.
The film’s message is surprisingly and refreshingly mature — that in the end, death comes for us all, that it does no good to fear it, and that our own mortality must be a reminder to celebrate and embrace life while it lasts. It manages to tell multiple stories — of Goldilocks, an orphan taken in by bears struggling with her place, of the abandoned but ever-faithful Perrito, of Jack Horner, a spoiled and selfish billionaire, and of the mysterious “Big Bad Wolf” who seeks to take the last of Puss’ lives — without ever losing sight of the core story. Similarly, it balances carefully-placed humor, which is some of the best from an animated film in recent memory, with the emotional moments that hold the film together and help it stand apart from the crowd. The film even teases a return for Shrek and its cast of iconic characters.
Dreamworks has often been at the forefront of animation, pushing the boundaries and creating classics, and there’s no doubt that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has earned its place alongside films like How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda. Puss is a strong contender for the 2023 Academy Awards, going up against films like Pixar’s Turning Red and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (interestingly enough, del Toro served as an executive producer on the first Puss in Boots and was among the first to tease the sequel).
There has been uncertainty and unrest in the animation industry, worries about its future, and frustration at the dismissal of it as a “kids genre” (although it is neither inherently for kids nor a genre). However, if Puss in Boots is any indicator, it would seem the future of animation is brighter than any wishing star.