The very best family movies (on the very best streaming services) aren't really aimed exclusively at kids – they're tuned carefully to bring something to the table for viewers of practically all ages. That's almost exactly how I'd describe Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which is way, way better than it has any right to be as the latest in a long line of spin-off sequels from Shrek.
It came out a couple of years ago but, here in the UK at least, just arrived on Netflix, which means it's about as accessible as it's been in ages. If you're looking for a new family movie night choice, then you've definitely found a heck of an option here.
The Last Wish sees Puss coming to the end of that famous list of nine lives that cats boast. He's on his final life, and that means the peril of actual mortality. So, in classic style he sets off on a quest to find a maguffin that will let him wish his lives back into existence, and reinstate his safety buffer.
He enlists the help of Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault) to help him out, but arguably more memorable are the baddies chasing him down as he goes. In particular, one hellish big bad Wolf (Wagner Moura) won't leave him alone, Terminator-like as he chases Puss down with twin sickles as weapons.
That sort of plot could easily be pretty formulaic if handled in a boring way, but the reason I'll be rewatching The Last Wish tonight is because of how boldly animated and plotted its scenes are. Unlike the older Shrek movies, this film has a gorgeous painted style that really is quite unique – it's probably closest to the comic-book stylings in the Spiderverse animated movies.
It's also completely unafraid to use colour really stylistically, often blocking out the background entirely with splashes of red that make it visually astonishing. These sorts of moments are what animation is all about, after all, helping the movie to underline why it's an animated feature in the first place. So, it's one of those great movies that can help your kids to appreciate cinema a little bit more, even if they don't realise it at the time.
All of that quality has given it a huge reputation – it sits on a 95% critical score and 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. So, if my word doesn't count for much, that surely makes you think you should add it to your watchlist, no?
