Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a 2022 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to the spin-off film Puss in Boots (2011) and the sixth installment in the Shrek franchise, the film was directed by Joel Crawford and co-directed by Januel Mercado. Based on the character from Shrek 2 (2004) and inspired by the eponymous fairy tale, the film's screenplay was written by Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow, with a story by Swerdlow and Tom Wheeler (the latter of whom wrote the 2011 film). The voice cast of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish includes Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek Pinault reprising their respective roles as the titular character and Kitty Softpaws, and are joined by Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, John Mulaney, Wagner Moura, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Anthony Mendez, who voice new characters introduced in the film. Set after Shrek Forever After (2010), the film follows Puss in Boots as he journeys to find the mystical Last Wish for the Wishing Star by teaming up with Kitty and Perrito (Guillén) to restore the first eight of his nine lives, by wishing on the mystical Last Wishing Star. They must race against Goldilocks and her Three Bears Crime Family (Pugh, Winstone, Colman, and Kayo), and "Big" Jack Horner (Mulaney), who all desire the star; Puss must also avoid a mysterious hooded wolf (Moura), who plots to kill him.

Plans for a sequel to Puss in Boots began in November 2012, when executive producer Guillermo del Toro shared plans to take the titular character on an adventure to a "very exotic locale", and also stated a couple of drafts for the screenplay were completed. Work on a sequel began in April 2014, according to Banderas. The film's title was announced as Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves in June 2014. After being stuck in development hell, the project was revived in November 2018, with Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri confirmed to be an executive producer. It was announced that the film would be helmed by Bob Persichetti, the head of story of the first film and one of the three directors of Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), in February 2019. Crawford was later announced as the new director in March 2021, along with Mercado. The majority of the new cast members, along with Pinault's return, were announced in March 2022. The story drew inspiration from Spaghetti Western films, with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) being cited as a particular influence. As with DreamWorks' previous film The Bad Guys (2022), the film has a stylized animation style, inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. With new technology, the team was able to give the film a painterly style to resemble a fairy-tale story, rather than utilizing the realistic visual style of every previous installment of the Shrek franchise.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish premiered at Lincoln Center in New York City on December 13, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 21, 2022, after being delayed due to restructuring at DreamWorks. The film received positive reviews from critics, praising its animation, themes, voice acting, humor, and portrayal of Death. Many reviewers considered it superior to its predecessor, as well as one of the best films in the Shrek franchise. It was also a commercial success, grossing over $476 million worldwide on a production budget of $90 million, becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2022. At the 95th Academy Awards it was nominated for Best Animated Feature, as well as receiving nominations at the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice Awards, and British Academy Film Awards.

Plot
While hosting a party in the town of Del Mar, legendary hero and outlaw Puss in Boots accidentally awakens a sleeping giant. He subdues the creature but is crushed by a bell. Waking up in a hospital, the town doctor informs him that he has lost eight of his nine lives and suggests Puss should retire. That night in a bar, Puss meets a black-hooded wolf, who disarms and wounds him in a swordfight.

Traumatized, Puss flees to the house of cat lady Mama Luna, where he buries his clothes and meets an optimistic Chihuahua disguised as a cat whom he calls Perrito. Goldilocks and her Three Bears Crime Family soon arrive at Luna's home. They plan to hire Puss to steal a map bearing the Wishing Star's location from pastry chef and crime boss "Big" Jack Horner, but fail to recognize him and leave after finding his "grave".

Puss decides to use the Star to restore his lost lives. Accompanied by Perrito, he breaks into Horner's bakery to steal the map, but is interrupted by his resentful ex-fiancée Kitty Softpaws, Horner, and Goldi and the bears. Puss manages to escape with the map alongside Kitty and Perrito, though he sees the wolf threaten him while fleeing.

The map leads the trio to the Dark Forest, a pocket dimension that changes its landscape depending on the map's holder. During another clash with Horner, his henchmen, and Goldi and the bears, Puss sees the wolf again and runs off, distracting Kitty and allowing Goldi to obtain the map. After Perrito calms Puss's panic attack, Puss confesses to being on his last life, and his remorse for leaving Kitty on their wedding day. Kitty overhears them and reveals that she never attended the wedding either, believing Puss could not love anyone more than himself.

Puss and Kitty steal back the map while Goldi and the bears are distracted by a manifestation of their woodland cottage. As the dimension shifts, Puss accidentally traps himself in a crystalline cave, where he encounters his arrogant past lives, and the wolf, who reveals himself as Death. Feeling disrespected by Puss not valuing his extra lives, Death wants to take Puss's final life prematurely. Horrified, Puss runs out of the cave towards the Star alone, ignoring Kitty and Perrito's pleas for him to stop. Meanwhile, Goldi reveals to the bears that her wish is to be reunited with her biological family; although they are devastated, the bears agree to help her.

Puss arrives at the Star and begins to make his wish using the map, but is confronted by Kitty, who berates him for his selfishness and confesses that her wish was to find someone she could trust. Goldi, the bears, and Horner arrive, and a fight ensues for the map; Goldi briefly obtains the map, but abandons it to save Baby Bear, while Kitty traps Horner inside his magical bottomless bag.

Death mounts the Star and challenges Puss. Having learned the value of life from his time with his companions, Puss forgoes wishing for more lives and accepts Death's duel. Puss disarms the wolf, and declares that while he knows he can never defeat Death, he will never stop fighting for his last life. Seeing that Puss has lost his arrogance, Death begrudgingly spares him. Before leaving, Death and Puss agree they will meet again one day.

Horner eats a magic snack inside the bag, which makes him gigantic and allows him to escape. He attempts to make his wish to control all of the world's magic for himself, but Perrito distracts him long enough for Puss, Kitty, and Goldi to destroy the map, causing the Star to collapse and consume Horner. In the aftermath, Goldi affirms to the bears that they are her true family, and they leave to take over Horner's bakery. Puss rekindles his romance with Kitty; the two and Perrito later steal a ship and set sail to the Kingdom of Far Far Away.

Voice cast
Main article: List of Shrek characters
 * Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots, a swashbuckling cat fugitive from the law and a hero of San Ricardo who has lost eight of his nine lives. In Mama Luna's Cat Rescue, Mama Luna named him "Pickles".
 * Salma Hayek Pinault as Kitty Softpaws, a street-savvy Tuxedo cat who is Puss' ex-fiancée, and seeks the Wishing Star to find somebody she can trust.
 * Harvey Guillén as Perrito, a friendly and naive therapy dog who started out as one of Mama Luna's pet cats, because he disguised himself as a cat. Since the end of the film, he officially names the trio (consisting of himself, Puss, and Kitty) "Team Friendship".
 * Florence Pugh as Goldilocks – known as Goldi, the leader of the Three Bears Crime Family who wants to use Last Wish to regain her biological family.
 * Kailey Crawford as Young Goldilocks
 * Olivia Colman as Mama Bear – Papa Bear's wife, Baby Bear's mother and Goldilocks' adoptive mother.
 * Ray Winstone as Papa Bear – Mama Bear's husband, Baby Bear's father and Goldilocks' adoptive father.
 * Samson Kayo as Baby Bear – Papa Bear and Mama Bear's son, and Goldilocks' adoptive brother. The character was previously voiced by Bobby Block in Shrek.
 * John Mulaney as "Big" Jack Horner, a feared pastry chef and crime lord who plans to use the Wishing Star to gain control of all magic. He collects various magical items, creatures and people ever since he was snubbed of fairy-tale fame by calling himself "Little" Jack Horner as a kid. His group of henchmen cooks is called "the Baker's Dozen".
 * Wagner Moura as the Wolf / Death, a black hooded wolf who is initially presumed to be a bounty hunter before revealing his true identity to Puss, who he wants to personally kill as punishment for Puss wasting eight of his nine lives. He wields twin sickles that combine into a double-bladed glaive.
 * Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Mama Luna, an elderly cat lady who initially takes Puss in.
 * Anthony Mendez as the doctor who tells Puss to retire after informing him of his eight deaths.
 * Kevin McCann as the Ethical Bug, a parody of Jiminy Cricket, who attempts to act as Jack Horner's "conscience".
 * Bernardo De Paula as the Governor of del Mar
 * Betsy Sodaro and Artemis Pebdani as Jo and Jan Serpent, twin criminal sisters who deliver the map of the Wishing Star to Jack.
 * Conrad Vernon as Gingy
 * Cody Cameron as Pinocchio

Shrek and Donkey make non-speaking appearances in a brief flashback, as does Imelda from the first Puss in Boots; Also from the previous film, Humpty Alexander Dumpty's first name appears in a book Goldi reads.