Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Theatrical release poster

***Puss in Boots: The Last Wish*** is a 2022 American computer-animated action-adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to the spin-off film *Puss in Boots* (2011) and the sixth installment in the *Shrek* franchise, the film was directed by Joel Crawford, co-directed by Januel Mercado and written by Paul Fisher, Tommy Swerdlow, and Tom Wheeler. Based on the character introduced in *Shrek 2* (2004) and inspired by the fairy tale of the same name, the voice cast includes Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek Pinault reprising their respective roles as the titular character and Kitty Softpaws, with new additions to the cast includes Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, John Mulaney, Wagner Moura, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Anthony Mendez. The story sees Puss in Boots teaming up with Kitty and Perrito to find the mystical Last Wish of the fallen Wishing Star to restore the first eight of his nine lives, competing against other criminals also after it and a sinister wolf hunting down Puss himself.

Plans for a sequel to *Puss in Boots* began in November 2012, but did not come to fruition, languishing in development hell, until it was revived in November 2018, with Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri confirmed to be an executive producer. It was announced that the film would be helmed by Bob Persichetti, the head of story of the first film and one of the three directors of Sony Pictures Animation's *Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse* (2018), in February 2019. Crawford was later announced as the new director in March 2021, along with Mercado. The story draws inspiration from Spaghetti Western films, with *The Good, the Bad and the Ugly* (1966) being cited as a particular influence. As with DreamWorks' previous film *The Bad Guys* (2022), the film's style is inspired by *Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse*. With new technology, the team was able to give the film a painterly style to resemble a fairy-tale story, rather than using the realistic visual style of previous installments in the *Shrek* franchise.

*Puss in Boots: The Last Wish* premiered at Lincoln Center in New York City on December 13, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 21, 2022, after being delayed due to restructuring at DreamWorks. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $484.7 million worldwide on a production budget of $90–110 million and becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2022. At the 95th Academy Awards it was nominated for Best Animated Feature, as well as receiving nominations at the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice Awards, and British Academy Film Awards.

## Plot

While hosting a party in the Spanish town of Del Mar, legendary hero and outlaw Puss in Boots rouses a giant, subdues it, but is crushed by a bell. Waking up in a hospital, Puss is informed by the town doctor that he has lost eight of his nine lives. The doctor suggests to Puss that he should retire, but he refuses. That night in a bar, Puss meets a black-hooded wolf, who disarms and wounds him in a sword fight. Traumatized by the event, Puss flees to the house of cat lady Mama Luna, burying his clothes in her yard. Many months later, Puss meets an optimistic Chihuahua disguised as a cat, whom he calls Perrito. Goldilocks and her Three Bears Crime Family soon arrive at Luna's home, looking to hire Puss to help them steal a map bearing the Wishing Star's location. However, they fail to recognize him, and leave after finding his "grave". Puss decides to use the Star to restore his lost lives.

Accompanied by Perrito, Puss travels to the factory lair of corrupt pastry salesman and magical artifact collector "Big" Jack Horner, who intends to use the Star to control all the magic in the world. Puss finds the map, but is interrupted by his resentful ex-fiancée Kitty Softpaws. Goldi, the Bears, and Horner arrive on the scene; Puss and Kitty escape with the map and Perrito, but Puss sees the Wolf behind them in the distance.

The map leads the trio to the Dark Forest, a pocket dimension that changes its appearance depending on the map's holder. During another clash with Horner, his henchmen, Goldi, and the Bears, Puss sees the Wolf in the distance again and flees in his panic, allowing Goldi to obtain the map from Kitty. After Perrito follows him and calms Puss down, Puss confesses his fears, and his remorse for abandoning Kitty just before their wedding. Kitty overhears them, and reveals that she never attended the wedding either, believing Puss loved himself too much to love her.

Puss and Kitty steal back the map while Goldi and the Bears are distracted by a manifestation of their woodland cottage. As the dimension shifts, Puss accidentally traps himself in a crystalline cave, where he encounters his arrogant past lives, and the Wolf, who reveals himself as Death. Offended by Puss' failure to value his extra lives, Death intends to take Puss' final life prematurely as punishment. Horrified, Puss runs out of the cave towards the Star alone, leaving Kitty and Perrito behind. Meanwhile, Goldi reveals to the Bears that her wish is to be reunited with her biological family; although they are devastated, the Bears agree to help her.

Puss climbs onto the Star and begins to make his wish, but is confronted by Kitty, who scolds him for his selfishness and confesses that her wish was to find someone she could trust. Goldi, the Bears, and Horner arrive, and a fight ensues for the map; Goldi briefly obtains the map, but abandons it to save Baby Bear, while Kitty traps Horner inside his magical bottomless bag.

Death arrives at the Star and challenges Puss to a duel. Having learned the value of life from his time with his companions, Puss forgoes wishing for more lives and accepts, temporarily disarming the Wolf. Puss declares that he knows he can never defeat Death, but he will never stop fighting for his last life. Seeing that Puss has lost his arrogance, Death begrudgingly spares him; before Death leaves, he and Puss acknowledge that they will eventually meet again.

Horner eats a magic snack, becoming a giant and escaping the bag. Perrito distracts him long enough for Puss, Kitty, and Goldi to destroy the map, causing the Star to collapse and consume Horner before rocketing towards the sky and exploding. In the aftermath, Goldi affirms to the Bears that they are her true family, and they leave to take over Horner's bakery. Puss rekindles his romance with Kitty; later, the two cats and Perrito steal a ship, setting sail for the Kingdom of Far Far Away.

## Voice cast

*Main article: List of Shrek (franchise) characters*

* Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots, a swashbuckling cat fugitive from the law and a hero of San Ricardo who has lost eight of his nine lives. In Mama Luna's Cat Rescue, Mama Luna named him "Pickles".
* Salma Hayek Pinault as Kitty Softpaws, a street-savvy Tuxedo cat who is Puss' ex-fiancée, and seeks the Wishing Star to find somebody she can trust.
* Harvey Guillén as Perrito, a friendly and naïve dog who is initially disguised as Mama Luna's pet cats and wants to become a therapy dog. Since the end of the film, he officially names the trio "Team Friendship".
* Florence Pugh as Goldilocks – known as Goldi, the leader of the Three Bears Crime Family who wants to use Last Wish to regain her biological family.
	+ Kailey Crawford as Young Goldilocks
* Olivia Colman as Mama Bear – Papa Bear's wife, Baby Bear's mother and Goldilocks' adoptive mother.
* Ray Winstone as Papa Bear – Mama Bear's husband, Baby Bear's father and Goldilocks' adoptive father.
* Samson Kayo as Baby Bear – Papa Bear and Mama Bear's son, and Goldilocks' adoptive brother.
* John Mulaney as "Big" Jack Horner, a feared pastry salesman and crime lord who plans to use the Wishing Star to gain control of all magic. He has collected various magical items, creatures and people ever since being denied fairy-tale fame by calling himself "Little" Jack Horner as a kid. His group of henchmen cooks is called "the Baker's Dozen".
* Wagner Moura as the Wolf / Death, a black hooded wolf who is initially presumed to be a bounty hunter before revealing his true identity to Puss, who he wants to personally kill as punishment for Puss wasting eight of his nine lives. He wields twin sickles that combine into a double-bladed glaive.
* Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Mama Luna, an elderly cat lady who initially takes Puss in.
* Anthony Mendez as the doctor who tells Puss to retire after informing him of his eight deaths.
* Kevin McCann as the Ethical Bug, a parody of Jiminy Cricket, who attempts to act as Jack Horner's "conscience".
* Bernardo De Paula as the Governor of del Mar
* Betsy Sodaro and Artemis Pebdani as Jo and Jan Serpent, twin criminal sisters who deliver the map of the Wishing Star to Jack.
* Conrad Vernon as Gingy
* Cody Cameron as Pinocchio

Shrek and Donkey make non-speaking appearances in a brief flashback, as does Imelda from the first *Puss in Boots*.

## Analysis

The film's subject matter and thematic merit have been lauded, receiving critical praise and discourse. It depicts Death as a living antagonist, chasing Puss for his final life. Puss does not defeat Death by combat, however, but instead by learning to accept the inevitability of death, while making sure to live life to the fullest and learning to let the people he loves have a part in his life. This metaphor has received critical evaluation and appraisal for its poignancy.