If there has ever been an animated movie deserving of an Oscar for Best Picture, it is “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” Dreamworks melds stunning visuals with a genuinely heartfelt story in the sequel to “Puss in Boots” (2011), making for an impactful watch. The animation and direction make for a stunning film, and its fluid movement and swaths of colors engage the audience.
The film starts with the death of the titular character Puss in Boots. After dying in a fight with a giant, he returns to life, reflecting the myth of cats having nine lives. From the beginning, the film blends comedy with darkness as Puss recounts his comedic yet painful previous deaths to a doctor. Being on his ninth life alarms Puss, particularly as he begins to run from a physical embodiment of final death. Sounds fun. No?
A children’s movie about a “Shrek” spinoff character fearing death may sound strange, but the film delivers a powerful and moving message with hilarious execution. It mixes elements of serious cinematic storytelling with child-friendly comedy. It makes a serious story we will all face countless times over, the inevitability of death approachable through its comedy.
The fairytale world and cast of the film add to the theme of accepting the realities of life and death. Puss spends most of the runtime with a stray dog and his former lover, Kitty Softpaws, searching for a wish. Puss puts his past and future in direct conflict as he attempts to outrun death alongside Kitty throughout their magical journey.
Additional characters add to the thematic complexity of the film. The main villain Jack Horner’s greed for the supernatural and the lengths this greed take him makes the movie hilarious for all ages. Storybook characters Goldilocks and the Three Bears feature quite prominently and contribute a surprising amount of heart, in a whole subplot about chosen family.
Recently, a clip showing an Easter egg from the film in a scene where Goldilocks searches for her original family went viral. In the background, the first line of the page she’s reading spells out, “you already have them,” referring to her finding family in the three bears whose house she stumbled upon as a child. The attention to detail in both story and animation comes together in this Easter egg, showing the team’s dedication and time put into making a quality film on multiple levels. Even without noticing small details, anyone would be hard-pressed not to have tears in their eyes while watching the story of Goldilocks.
The medium of animation has traditionally been resigned to children’s entertainment. While “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” indeed caters primarily to children, it shows that the field of animation allows for the exploration of abstract concepts in film in an artful way. The film includes a terrifying yet stunning representation of death through a wolf character that appears periodically to loom behind or talk to Puss. “The Last Wish” reinvents the notions of the depth of stories that animation can tell by using animation to improve its storytelling, making it a film that proves the medium has artistic filmmaking merit.
Whether you’re looking for a heartfelt tear-jerker, a light-hearted comedy, or a visual masterpiece, you will find what you’re looking for in “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.”