Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado get the tone Goldilocks-right — not too scary, not too bland — and add some stylish angular slow-motion fight sequences.

The Last Wish offers something different and unexpected: Puss has grown up with his audience.

Harnesses the familiar appeal of the self-aggrandising feline (Antonio Banderas), while also adopting a distinctive and original graphic visual style.

There is a lot to like here, not least Ray Winstone’s Papa Bear. The forests are Skittle-coloured. The set pieces are wild and kinetic. But it is Banderas’s star power that saves the day.

There’s an entire pick ’n’ mix stand of eye candy here – more than enough to satisfy younger viewers. But alas, it’s all empty calories.

How bland and forgettable this film is, without in the smallest way harnessing the real performing power of Banderas, Colman, Pugh, Winstone et al.

Riding the line between the silliness of the "Shrek" Universe from which it came and something far more Grimm, "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" explores the value of appreciating where you are and what you have ...

It does a fine job of balancing its knockabout humor with a surprisingly somber tale of how the specter of death can limit one’s ability to fully embrace and enjoy life.

The Last Wish is a spellbinding, funny, and gorgeous piece of animated storytelling that restores this franchise to past glory. The real cat in the hat is back, and his boots are very much made for walking!

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish takes necessary risks without losing to the assumption that all sequels lose their luster.