There are few franchises that saw as radical a decline in quality as the Shrek series – the first two films are appropriately considered not only masterpieces in their own right, but incredibly influential to the entire medium of animation, the industry being pushed in new directions after what was soon to be seen as a groundbreaking debut – and then through the simple greed and desire to continuously capitalize on these popular characters, it plummeted towards the point where the subsequent sequels were barely watchable, which is the more polite way of describing these misguided attempts to revisit iconic characters. Unfortunately, this also extended to Puss in Boots, the franchise’s attempt to provide a spin-off for one of its more popular characters, which felt like a forced effort and a bundle of missed opportunities. However, it turns out that all that needed to happen to revitalize this franchise was some time, with the decade since our last official cinematic foray with these characters (not counting the television exploits of Puss in Boots, which is essentially non-canon to the film versions, outside of sharing the same character – it’s just easier to view it this way) allowing the appropriate time to develop and create a story worthy of not only the characters, but also the audience’s time, which is steadily becoming more difficult to attain, considering not only the vast number of animated films coming from the major studios (with both Disney and Pixar releasing multiple films a year), but also the influx of independent and arthouse animation, which is steadily growing in popularity and viewership. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a welcome return to form for a franchise that has not been as consistent as it perhaps should have been, but which has now been given another breath of life by a team committed to revisiting this world with wit, charm and an abundance of action, which makes for a tremendously charming, and perhaps even deeply moving, work of modern animated mastery.

It seems like we have seen a movement towards making animated films that borrow elements from other genres, which can be a very creative way to infuse these films with a sense of originality, a more recent development (it was Rango over a decade ago that first introduced this idea on a more mainstream level, at least explicitly so), but one that has become a mainstay of the industry as a whole. At the heart of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, we have very clear references to the swashbuckler genre – those marvellously entertaining films about pirates or bandits, performed by actors who put themselves in death-defying situations for the sake of our amusement, which was particularly popular during the silent era, right until the rise of the western as the primary source of mainstream action cinema. There’s a long and storied history behind this genre, and somehow this film manages to pay homage to it better than many more direct tributes (including the Zorro reboot that share a star with this film – they are still excellent, but seem to fall slightly short in comparison). The primary reason for this is probably due to the fact that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish seems to capture the spirit of carefully-curated chaos better than most – a good swashbuckler should feel like a far-fetched tale come to life, filled with a certain rhythm and musicality that stretches the boundaries of plausibility, but in a way that is actually quite unique. This film captures that spirit extraordinarily well (and it does help that it is animated, so it can quite literally challenge logic, which is certainly the last detail any of us would notice when it comes to the realism of this film), and it manages to be extremely entertaining without needing to spend too much time developing plotlines that didn’t lead anywhere just for the sake of having some emotional catharsis. Everything in the film already is very resonant, and the story itself feels a lot more touching than it otherwise would have had the film been more insistent on following the trajectory of the previous films, a very smart decision on their part.

This is essentially the primary reason this film succeeds with such consistency – Puss in Boots: The Last Wish may be set in the world of the Shrek films (and it certainly owes its success to those pioneering films – without the radical success of Shrek 2, this film would not exist), but it is smart enough to know where to draw the line between those films and its own existence. There is value in knowing what to keep and what to exclude, and it takes a lot of effort to make those decisions – but the distinction is vitally important, since this was never trying to be a film that simply stood in the shadow of the franchise’s previous entries, but chose to be its own individual product, a film that can stand all on its own, paying tribute to its origins in small but significant ways. As a result, the same sense of lovable absurdity is retained, but it is slightly more developed – the animation is more different (evoking the almost comic book-style aesthetic that helps give the story an additional boost of energy, making it look like a graphic novel come to life), and the story goes in different directions, not depending on the concept of rewriting beloved fairytales as much as the previous films, but still keeping some element of consistency in this regard to tie it all together. There aren’t enough filmmakers willing to make the difficult decision of choosing what qualities of the original works are valuable, and which can be disposed of, which is why so many sequels and reboots emerge with a whimper rather than a bang, and often fizzle out, being needlessly compared to prior works. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish knows its potential and makes it clear that it doesn’t have any intention of resting on its laurels – as much effort went into the creation of this film, which centres on an already popular, established character, as would be used in the creation of an entirely new one, which is precisely why this film feels so refreshing and unique, rather than just retreading the same tired themes that we’ve seen several times before.

The original appeal of the character of Puss in Boots in the Shrek films was (like all of its elements) based around taking common tropes and subverting them in creative and unexpected ways. Part of this was casting Antonio Banderas, the dashing and valiant actor known for his heroism on screen, as a small ginger tabby that possessed a vicious attitude and appetite for destruction. There seems to be no one better suited to play the role, and mercifully Banderas has a sense of humour that allowed him to continuously return to playing the character, likely due to the fact that even though the continued decline of the franchise, the character remained popular. His decision to perpetually take on the role in the film versions says a lot about his fondness for the material as it does his immense talents. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is yet another opportunity for Banderas to return to one of his most iconic roles – and while many may dismiss voice acting as being somehow inferior to live-action work, Banderas proves that you can very effectively turn in a strong performance with the right combination of good writing and dedication to the material. There’s something so hilarious about hearing his iconic, timbral voice emerging from the body of this feline creation, but it has always been the reason behind the appeal of the character. He is joined once again by Salma Hayek Pinault (another very smart decision in terms of casting), and newcomers like Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Florence Pugh and (as the main villains) John Mulaney and Wagner Moura, who somehow manage to be the most sinister and deranged villains the franchise has ever seen, at least in terms of their pure evil. It’s a solid cast that delivers strong performances, and while none of them are as iconic as previous efforts in the franchise, it is objectively very good work across the board.

It may be slightly hyperbolic to even suggest that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish comes anywhere close to the first two works in this franchise,  but it is about as close to them as we could expect. It is inevitable that they will be compared, even if this functions perfectly well as a standalone film – but while comparison can sometimes be an unfair way of looking at art, when it allows us to comment on how a sequel or reboot substantially improves on previous efforts, it feels far less cheap, and actually can be a positive way of assessing the work that went into revitalizing an old property, to the point where it takes on an entirely different life. It seems like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish represents the start of a new wave of films in this franchise, and whether this will signal the beginning of a new era for the Shrek characters, or continue on as its own separate franchise (either a good outcome), it feels like this film should be celebrated for actually being willing to make the difficult decisions around what from the original films should be kept, and what can be put to rest. This is combined with some of the more enchanting, stunning animations of recent years, and it is always so stunning to see how far the medium has gone – we can be grateful that the efforts towards photorealism have started to decline, and the focus has instead gone towards finding new styles, this being one of the year’s most intricately-designed animated features. Ultimately, everything about this film feels like a vast improvement on the previous films – the use of genuine emotion and a lot of very valuable stylistic decisions easily make Puss in Boots: The Last Wish one of the better mainstream animated films of the past few years, and a film that will likely be used to showcase exactly how studio animation should function, since nearly everything about this film is a resounding success, which is exactly what both this character and the audience deserved.