Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022): A Surprisingly Deep and Daring Animated Fairy Tale

In Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), the fearless feline legend has burned through eight of his nine lives and embarks on a thrilling, perilous quest to reclaim them.

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A Family-Friendly Animated Sequel That Grows Darker, Deeper, and More Cinematic

When Puss in Boots: The Last Wish hit cinemas in December 2022, few expected that a sequel to a decade-old spinoff would turn out to be one of the most emotionally rich, visually daring, and critically acclaimed family films of the modern animation era. 

Directed by Joel Crawford and produced by Mark Swift for DreamWorks Animation, it reimagines the swashbuckling feline for a new generation—older, wiser, and particularly self-aware.

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The film initially opens in familiar territory with the first 15 minutes leaning heavily into the broad comedy energy of the original Puss in Boots. But what follows is a much more introspective animated adventure that explores fear, mortality, and friendship while simultaneously becoming a lot more colorful, kinetic, and action-packed than its predecessor.

In doing so, The Last Wish redefines what a mainstream, family-friendly animated film can be, blending blockbuster spectacle with mature storytelling.

The Story: A Cinematic Fairy-Tale Quest with High Stakes and Emotional Weight

The film opens with our legendary cat hero, Puss in Boots (voiced once again by Antonio Banderas), reveling in his own fame. He’s a living legend—fearless, charming, and impossibly reckless.

But after a particularly dangerous adventure goes wrong, Puss receives shocking news: he has burned through eight of his nine lives. For the first time, the usually fearless outlaw feels genuine fear.

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This revelation sets the stage for a very different kind of fairy tale.

When Puss learns of a magical Wishing Star that could restore his lost lives, he sets off in pursuit of it. Along the way, he reunites with the sly and elegant Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault) and meets an unlikely new friend—Perrito (Harvey Guillén), a small dog with an enormous heart.

Together, they embark on a perilous journey across enchanted forests and fantasy lands, chased by rivals who want the wish for themselves.

These rivals include a sinister bounty hunter known as the Wolf (Wagner Moura), the loud and entitled crime boss Jack Horner (John Mulaney), and Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears Crime Family (Olivia Coleman, Ray Winstone, and Samson Kayo).

A Story About Life, Death, and Friendship

On the surface, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish delivers everything you expect from a big animated adventure: fast-paced action, humor, and larger-than-life set pieces. Beneath that glossy exterior, however, the film tells a surprisingly thoughtful story about fear, mortality, and what it truly means to live.

For the first time, Puss is forced to confront a terrifying reality—he is not the invincible hero he thought he was. His trademark confidence begins to crack as he realizes that his lives are not endless. The mysterious Wolf, later revealed as Death itself, stalks him as a constant reminder that time is running out.

Despite these darker undertones, the film never feels heavy or bleak. Quite the opposite. There’s always laughter, and the fairy-tale world bursts with color, from neon forests to candy-bright landscapes. 

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Meanwhile, Perrito’s boundless optimism and Kitty Softpaws’ grounded perspective gently pull Puss away from reckless heroics and toward vulnerability and humility.

When the final confrontation arrives, Puss doesn’t reclaim his courage by chasing lost glory or extra lives. Instead, he finds strength in acceptance. By choosing to stop running and face mortality head-on, he discovers that real bravery isn’t about defying death but about appreciating life while you have it.

It’s a bold move for a family film to explore big, existential ideas like these without talking down to children and without losing the lightness and fun to keep them entertained. At the same time, it offers older viewers something meaningful to reflect on. It’s no surprise that both critics and audiences embraced the film.

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A Visual Revolution in Animation

DreamWorks also took a creative leap with this sequel’s animation by blending lowered frame rates with painterly textures, hand-drawn flourishes, and stylized motion inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). The result is a movie in which every frame bursts with texture and color that shifts depending on the mood of the scene.

This choice wasn’t just aesthetic. The rougher, more expressive animation allowed the artists to exaggerate movement, heighten emotional beats, and make every sword fight feel more dynamic and cinematic.

The animators also adjusted how characters blinked, moved, and reacted to danger by subtly shifting styles depending on the tone of each scene. Calmer moments feel softer and more fluid, while high-stakes sequences adopt sharper lines and punchier motion—a technique rarely used so deliberately in mainstream animated features.

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In interviews, director Joel Crawford said he also leaned into spaghetti western influences to give the film’s duels and standoffs the dramatic flair of a classic Clint Eastwood. 

Composer Heitor Pereira completes the experience with a sweeping, emotional score that mixes Spanish guitar and orchestral energy to match the film’s unique tone.

Years in the Making—And Worth the Wait

Production began quietly in the late 2010s and went through several visual redesigns before DreamWorks settled on its hybrid animation approach. (Apparently, early versions leaned closer to DreamWorks’ house style, but the creative team ultimately decided the film needed a stronger identity to justify its return to theaters.)

After years of development, DreamWorks brought in Joel Crawford to direct. Fresh off his work on Trolls Holiday (2017) and The Croods 2: A New Age (2020), Crawford proved to be a natural fit for reimagining the character with a bolder tone and a more contemporary visual language.

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Star Power and Standout Performances Behind the Voices

Antonio Banderas returned to Puss in Boots with a noticeably more restrained performance, dialing back the character’s bravado. Instead, he plays Puss with hesitation, vulnerability, and visible fear of death.

Banderas, who suffered a heart attack in 2017, has said openly in interviews that the film’s themes of mortality resonated deeply with him. That experience clearly informs his delivery, especially in quieter moments where Puss’s confidence falters and something more human shines through.

Meanwhile, Salma Hayek Pinault worked closely with the filmmakers to evolve Kitty Softpaws into more than just romantic foil. She wanted a more grounded and emotionally mature counterpart to Puss —someone who challenges him, calls out his recklessness, and refuses to be sidelined.

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Wagner Moura, known for his work on the Netflix crime drama Narcos, brings deliberate and chilling restraint to the role of the Wolf and thus creates one of the most unforgettable animated villains in recent years. The animation team matched his vocal choices by slowing the Wolf’s movements and sharpening his body language. Late in production, the filmmakers added the now-iconic whistling motif after realizing how perfectly it complemented Moura’s performance.

Fun fact: Fan-favorite Harvey Guillén as Perrito was added relatively late in development, originally conceived as a minor side character. Early test screenings, however, revealed how strongly audiences connected with his innocence and humor, and this led to an expanded role that ultimately reshaped the emotional core of the story.

Critical Acclaim, Awards, and Box Office Success

Released theatrically on December 21, 2022, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish became a word-of-mouth sensation. With a budget of around $90–110 million, it went on to gross an impressive $484 million worldwide, making it one of DreamWorks’ biggest hits in years.

The film received widespread critical praise for its storytelling, animation, and mature themes. It earned a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 95th Academy Awards and was recognized at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, and Annie Awards.

Although it ultimately lost the Oscar to Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022), it solidified DreamWorks’ return to top-tier animation storytelling.

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A New Chapter for a Legendary Cat

More than just a sequel, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish redefines our cat as a flawed and deeply human hero in feline form. It’s a story about second chances, friendship, and finding joy in the one life we have left.

As the film closes, Puss sails off toward new horizons with Kitty and Perrito at his side, hinting at more adventures to come. Whether or not we get a Puss in Boots 3, one thing is certain: this legendary cat has found his ninth life, and it’s full of heart.

Watch the movie trailer for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Where to Stream or Buy Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Are you ready to watch Puss in Boots: The Last Wish?

The film is also available on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD, complete with deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes features.

For instant access, you can also watch the film digitally on streaming platforms such as:

Final Thoughts

Have you seen The Last Wish, or is it now on your list of must-watch movies? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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About the Author

Vanessa Morgan is the editor of When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals, Strange Blood: 71 Essays on Offbeat and Underrated Vampires Movies, Evil Seeds: The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children, and Meow! Cats in Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies. She also published one cat book (Avalon) and four supernatural thrillers (Drowned Sorrow, The Strangers Outside, A Good Man, and Clowders). Three of her stories became movies. She introduces movie screenings at several European cinemas and film festivals and is also a programmer for the Offscreen Film Festival in Brussels. When she is not writing, you will probably find her eating out or taking photos of felines for her website, Traveling Cats.

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