Film Review: 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish'

By Callum Keith

‘Retirement’, ‘anxiety’ and ‘death’. Puss in Boots fears them, when he’s dared.

'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish' (UK release 3rd February), features the return of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek as Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws. Joining Puss and Kitty’s adventure is a dog named Perrito, played by Harvey Guillén. Director Joel Crawford, who has worked on animated films such as 'The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part', 'Kung Fu Panda' and 'The Croods: A New Age', guides Puss into an adventure, in which his final life is on the line.

Throughout his eight lives, Puss in Boots has not given anything too much thought, other than having a good time. However, this usually comes with the deadly cost of losing his limited nine lives. At this point, he is at his last life, where if he makes one more reckless move, he will have no more lives. Before retiring, Puss meets Death, a wolf who wants nothing but the pleasure to kill him, which builds up to an inevitable final showdown between them.

While Puss is dealing with death and anxiety, he ventures on a journey where he must find the final wishing star to regain the nine lives he wasted. This leads to a colourful adventure with gorgeous visuals.

Imperatively, Joel Crawford understands when aesthetics needs to be dark and dull when the tone is serious. Whilst the film has gritty moments, the tone overall is humorous with some jokes that children will learn when they are older. The soundtrack is rhythmic and tense whenever action commences.

The animation style may seem similar to 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse', but don’t let that cloud your judgement. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a great film to watch, No matter your age. Joel Crawford successfully explores the themes mentioned. He deserves high praise and luck for upcoming award ceremonies later this year.

★★★★★