Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is the adventure movie your kids will have on repeat.

I’m going to make a big claim here: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a little bit... magical. 

I’ll even go further; it’s a miracle worker. Let me share some context to explain these bold claims. 

Summer is amazing. Long, lazy weekends without needing to actually be anywhere. A relaxed introduction to a fresh year, without the chaotic routine ramping up just yet. Quality time with the kids doing all the summer things. It’s wonderful, but let’s be honest, exhausting. 

As a mum-of-three, I reached my summer-fun-mum threshold about a week ago. I am tired. My feet are raw from trekking across hot sand every day, for weeks on end. I am fairly certain I’ve developed some form of RSI from pushing kids on boogie boards into waves. Unfortunately, the kids don’t care that I just want to lie beneath the air conditioning and finish the book I started six weeks ago. 

They demand entertainment. And that is where the release of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has really saved my bacon.

Take a look at the trailer for Universal Pictures' Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Post continues below.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll be well acquainted with the Shrek universe. In our house, it’s impossible to peel an onion or make waffles without quoting Shrek or Donkey. It’s a family classic for a reason (and I've LOVED seeing a whole new resurgence of Shrek fandom from the memes and TikToks. My kids are too young to know about those, so that's purely for my enjoyment). 

It’s been over a decade since we last caught up with the notorious Puss in Boots, and my three kids were KEENER than keen to see what his new adventure would be next. 

So we cleared the schedule, got Puss in Boots: The Last Wish at home on our smart TV (you can buy or rent it digitally – we bought this time, as I knew the kids would be watching it on repeat. All for that, if it saves me a 17th trip to the beach this week).

Here’s exactly what we thought of it (that is, according to my kids aged 11, eight and five!).

1. We were all captivated from the opening scene

The Shrek universe just knows how to hook you in from the get-go. 

The first scene treats us to an all-singing, all-dancing re-introduction to fan favourite, Puss in Boots himself. We can confirm that he’s lost none of his pizzazz in the last decade. If anything, the guy has gotten better with age (we probably have Antonio Banderas to thank for that). 

What follows is a certain level of calamity which sets up the action for the rest of the movie and without giving anything away, we are glued to the action.

Image: Universal Pictures.

2. The new characters add a little extra somethin’ somethin’

The supporting characters have always been a huge selling point to any Shrekverse movie. I, personally, have a possibly unhealthy connection with Donkey because he’s just so relatable. 

The movie continues to shine with the introduction of a host of new fairy-tale characters. There's Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears Crime Family (whose London vibe had us in stitches); Jack Horner, formerly little, now big and bad, and Puss in Boots' new bestie and travel companion stray mutt, Perro (Harvey Guillen). There's also Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault), back for a tension-charged reunion. 

My daughters were completely enamoured with Goldilocks ("She’s so fierce but nice! And she has THE BEST hair!"), while I personally developed a soft spot for Perro. His sometimes-expletive filled rants (bleeped out, of course) really spoke to me...

3. The messaging is (as always) on point

The Shrekverse have always, at their core, had a great message to share and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is no exception. 

It provided some great opportunities for discussion with the kids about the things that we might wish for and how sometimes, like in the case of Goldilocks, they’re likely already right in front of us. It also sparked some entertaining discussions about the silly things we’d wish for if we had the chance to ‘wish upon a star'. 

The character of the big bad wolf, as a Grim Reaper of sorts, following Puss in Boots throughout the movie also opened some really interesting discussions with my older two kids about the importance of living your life to the fullest, regret-free, as it’s the only one you’ve got.

We highly rate Puss in Boots: The Last Wish in our house. Heck, as soon as it finished, they'd already opted to go again. It can often be tricky to find a movie that all three kids, at three ages and stages, really get into and that my husband and I can (actually) laugh along with. 

Glad to report it ticked all those boxes and gave this exhausted mum the chance to sit back and put her feet up. I'll take the win.

Want to watch at home now? Rent or buy the digital release of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with early access on AppleTV, Prime Video, Google, Telstra, YouTube and more. 

Feature Image: Universal Pictures.