With a little recollection of the Shrek franchise and even less of the Puss in boots spinoff series, that goes without saying that this film was completely off my radar. However, after hearing positive news about the film, I knew it would be a fun watch with my friends. Nothing could prepare me for the spectacle and gripping story telling of this masterpiece. 

Puss in boots begins the story as his old High and mighty self, living through the legend of his namesake. It isn’t until the realization that he only has one life left to live, and his literal encounter with Death, a villain of the story, that he begins to fear for his life. I’m order to regain his lost lives, Puss attempts to discover the last wish and save himself from death.

The story entails a journey between Puss in Boots, his dime piece cat lover Softpaws, an annoying dog, and many other fantasy characters in a race to find the last wish. Through this story our characters each find it within themselves to make their wishes come true, and Puss discovers the meaning of life in the face on Death. 

For starters, The animation was beautiful and truly riveting. Various styles of animation were applied, particularly in action scenes which would often display a 2-D animation style similar to that of Spider-man into the spider verse. Combined with beautiful cinematography and a fast directing style, the animation alone is worth the price of admission. 

However the impact of this film goes far beyond the visuals, as the script and character writing is what places this film amongst the top animations in the past decade. Each character was witty and hilarious, with stand outs being the villainous Jack Horner, the team of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The talking cricket and of course Puss in Boots. Lastly, one cannot critique this film without mentioning the standout villain of the story, Death. The portrayal and visual representation of this character was unlike any I had ever seen. The imposing yet ghost like presence of Death would send fear into the audience and rattle our fearless hero in ways we have never seen. Without hyperbole, this is truly one of the most intimidating villains I have ever seen in a movie. 

So what is there left to say about Puss in Boots: The Last Wish? It is a spin-off sequel film proving to be the greatest sleeper-hit of 2022, with compelling and engaging characters and beautiful animation in which audiences of all ages can enjoy. 

The dog character mostly sucked tho. 8.5/10.