Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Story

Puss in Boots (voice of Antonio Banderas) is down to the last of his 9 lives and is running scared from the Grim Reaper, a very nasty Big Bad Wolf (Magnus Moura). He sets out on an adventure to find the mythical lost wishing star, which has one wish remaining.

On his travels, Puss comes close to death after meeting the Big Bad Wolf. A concerned doctor (Anthony Mendez) advises Puss to retire to the cats’ home run by Mama Luna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Puss gets very depressed being one of hundreds of cats rather than the fearless legend that he is. A dog in disguise, called Pero (Harvey Guillen), befriends Puss and together they escape from the home and set out to find the wishing star. However, they aren’t the only ones wanting to find it. Along the way they encounter the criminal gang of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh), Papa Bear (Ray Winstone), Mama Bear (Olivia Colman) and Baby Bear (Samson Kayo), the nasty Big Jack Horner (John Mulaney) and Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), who are also after the last wish.

Themes

Fairy tales; legends; heroes; adventure

Violence

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has some slapstick violence. This is meant to be funny. For example:

Puss steps on a boy’s face.
Puss jumps from a landing into the crowd.
Puss cuts a man’s trousers off with his sword.
The giant sends Puss flying into space. Puss cuts off his arm.
Mama Luna hits Papa Bear, Papa Bear hits Baby Bear and throws Mama Luna into the piano.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish also has some other violence. For example:

A star falls to Earth and explodes.
There is plenty of sword fighting, swashbuckling and knife throwing.
A fire is accidentally started in a dining hall.
Puss remembers his lost lives: attacked by fierce dogs; falling from a tower; blown out of a canon; blown on with fire from a furnace; etc.
Puss and the Wolf fight on several occasions. Puss stabs the Wolf many times, with no effect. Blood is seen dripping down Puss’s face.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears crash their way into the cats’ home looking for Puss in Boots.
Kitty Softpaws and Puss fight with swords.
Goldilocks smashes a bottle and threatens Jack Horner with the broken glass.
Jack Horner has a crossbow from which he sends missiles. He also uses a chicken as a flame thrower. Jack Horner says he wants to kill everyone.
The Big Bad Wolf smashes several glass cages containing Puss’s past lives. He says death has come for Puss. He chases after Puss.
The final scene is an all-out fight over the wishing star. The star starts to explode and one character is caught up in the explosion. The Big Bad Wolf has a prolonged fight with swords and sickles.

Sexual references

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has some sexual references. For example, there is some mild flirting and romance between Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no substance use in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity and sexual activity in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Coarse language

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has some coarse language. For example, ‘bugger’, ‘shut up’ and ‘crap’, and several words are beeped out. Name calling includes ‘stupid’, ‘bad’, ‘daft’, and ‘fat mutt’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is the latest animated, comedy adventure spinoff in the DreamWorks’ Shrek franchise. The film is full of violence, although mostly done for laughs, and it’s also quite scary in places. For these reasons it isn’t suitable for children aged under 6 years and parental guidance is recommended for children aged 6–8 years.

The main messages from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish are to appreciate what’s in front of you, and don’t take others for granted.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children are teamwork, selflessness, bravery and courage.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish could give you the chance to talk with your children about how violence isn’t the answer to most problems. You could discuss the difference between heroes and villains in the movies and real-life heroes and the work they do. You could also talk about the stereotyping of the characters, for example the criminal Goldilocks and the obese Jack Horner.