This Shrek spin-off sequel is the cat’s miaow.
Bit of a wildcard selection for this week’s Friday Night Movie Night – and if you’re still waiting for us to follow up The Mask Of Zorro with its sequel, your wait continues. Well, sort of, because instead of picking up the adventures of Banderas’ masked vigilante, we’re going with his feline facsimile in his latest and best adventure: Puss In Boots: The Last Wish.
After years of rollicking swashbuckling and unchecked bravado, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish finds the titular feline at a sobering crossroads: mortality. A film about death, existential anxiety, and the desperate scramble to reclaim lost time might seem an odd choice for a spin-off of Shrek, yet it’s this unexpected depth that elevates The Last Wish from mere animated adventure to something genuinely poignant.
Right from the opening sequence, the film’s aesthetics visually distance it from its predecessors. Gone is the hyper-slick, traditional DreamWorks CGI; in its place, a painterly, almost storybook aesthetic infused with dynamic frame composition that owes more to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse than to Shrek the Third. The action sequences, in particular, burst with kinetic energy, evoking the stylised combat of anime and classic fairy tale illustrations in equal measure. This departure from the standard Shrek look isn’t just an stylistic choice – it enhances the film’s tone, heightening both the whimsical and the nightmarish as Puss confronts the reality of his cavalier approach to having nine lives.
And what a confrontation it is. While The Last Wish delivers the expected hijinks – Antonio Banderas remains as effortlessly charismatic as ever in the lead role – there’s a tangible sense of vulnerability beneath the bravado. The looming spectre of death, embodied by a truly unsettling wolf (Wagner Moura) wielding twin sickles, casts a long shadow over Puss’ escapades. He’s still trying to be the same swaggering, fearless outlaw, but now he has something to fear, and the film doesn’t shy away from his panic, his regrets, or his desperation. It’s a surprisingly mature meditation on coming to terms with one’s mortality, delivered in a package that remains not just accessible to younger audiences but also reassuring them that it’s okay to feel anxious and overwhelmed sometimes – and to ask for help.
The calibre of the supporting cast only strengthens the film’s emotional core. Salma Hayek’s Kitty Softpaws returns with her sharp wit and undeniable chemistry with Puss, while Harvey Guillén’s Perrito – an irrepressibly cheerful wannabe therapy dog – manages to steal scenes without ever tipping into cloying territory. The villains, too, are a delightful mix of menace and absurdity, from the grotesquely oversized Jack Horner – an imperious John Mulaney – to the unnervingly poised Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and her criminal gang of three bears Mummy Bear (Olivia Colman), Daddy Bear (Ray Winstone) and Baby Bear (Samson Kayo).
For a film ostensibly about a talking cat in tiny boots, The Last Wish manages to wrestle with some weighty themes while never losing its sense of fun. It’s a dazzling, heartfelt adventure that reimagines its protagonist not as an invincible legend but as something far more interesting: a hero learning to make peace with his own humanity – or rather, his own feline fragility. If this is what DreamWorks is capable of when they shake off their old formulas, then The Last Wish isn’t just a return to form for the played-out Shrek franchise; it’s a tantalising glimpse at what animated storytelling can be when it dares to take risks.
