After a decade since the last movie in the “Shrek” franchise, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” came to theaters on December 21, 2022. Although it was the first movie in the franchise to be released in 11 years, it made 555 million dollars at the box office.

The idea was originally pitched in June 2014, but it was canceled due to Dreamworks, the studio that the movie was produced by, going through restructuring. The project was picked back up in Nov. 2018.

The story starts out with Puss dying and finding out that he’s used up eight of his nine lives. He ends up being hunted down by Death due to Death’s belief that he was undeserving of his last life. Puss, along with a couple of characters he meets on the way, adventure off to find the mythical Wishing Star so that he can restore his previous lives.

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” was a well-thought-out movie. They reused the plot from the first film and repurposed it in a more interesting way. The varying styles of animation shown throughout the movie made it feel dynamic, unlike the other films in the “Shrek” franchise, which only utilize one animation style. Every frame of the movie felt like it was perfectly crafted to take advantage of the medium of animation.

Every character that came on screen was distinct and memorable, and the majority of them go through a lot of character development by the end of the movie. The villain of the story was written really well. A lot of people are scared of dying, and they nailed down the sense of dread that comes with something inevitable chasing you down.

When walking into the theater, a lot of people did not have high expectations for this movie. Walking back out, however, many were pleasantly surprised. Puss has always been seen as this ‘fearless hero,’ and it was a breath of fresh air to see him face his fear of death, commitment, and not meeting everyone else’s expectations.