Back in 2004, Shrek 2 introduced Puss in Boots to the franchise. 2011 gave the character his own spinoff movie, one that finally received a sequel 11 years later via Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

When Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) uses up eight of his nine lives, death literally stalks him in the form of a Wolf (Wagner Moura). This causes Puss to quit his days as an adventurer and take up residence as a house cat.

However, Puss eventually becomes aware of the “Wishing Star” and believes that if he finds it, he can restore all his used-up lives. Along with former lover/former competitor Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and naïve dog-pretending-to-be-a-cat Perrito (Harvey Guillén), Puss battles others to locate this magical device and return to his old existence.

Across my reviews of the four Shrek films, one theme emerges: my view of the series as entertaining but underwhelming. The movies never quite lived up to hopes/expectations.

While Shrek 2 fell into that category as a whole, Puss did become a highlight. Banderas gave the role a fun spin so his parts of the film turned into the flick’s strengths.

Unfortunately, that didn’t extend to the 2011 Puss in Boots. It appeared to come to life as “cinematic product”, a financial choice to attempt a spinoff franchise with little real creative reason to exist.

With a worldwide gross of about $550 million, Boots turned a profit, but apparently its sequel got stuck in “development hell” for years. I also suspect that the good but not amazing ticket sales for the 2011 flick left a lack of urgency.

In any case, I admit I went into Wish without much enthusiasm. As noted, I never loved the Shrek flicks, and the 2011 Boots left me largely indifferent, as I found it to become a bland, forgettable tale.

Happily, Wish offers something far more engaging than its direct predecessor. Indeed, I feel it brings us easily the best tale in the broader Shrek universe, as it delivers the only one of the six films that truly satisfies.

Perhaps the decade-plus between movies allowed the folks involved to make sure they delivered a movie with creative purpose and not just another sequel for its own sake. Wish gives us a flick with actual ambition in a variety of ways.

For one, Wish departs from the standard Shrek-universe style of art and animation. The film attempts a more 2D feel, one that also boasts a painterly feel to connote the impression of storybooks.

Along with the form of “stepped animation” popularized with 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, this gives Wish an intriguing and creative vibe. Wish doesn’t look like every other animated flick on the market, and this lets it make its own mark.

Also, the story of Wish delivers a greater sense of depth than anticipated. Sure, it ultimately comes down to a fairly standard “appreciate what ya got” theme, but the film explores characters and notions in a manner that seems uncommonly rich for a movie ostensibly intended for children.

In particular, Puss’s confrontation with mortality packs a real punch. Wish depicts his conflicts with Death in a surprisingly impactful manner that helps give the story weight.

Of course, Wish doesn’t turn into the downer my discussion might imply, as it packs a ton of adventure and comedy as well. Indeed, the movie can act as both a fun action tale and a parody at the same time.

The filmmakers pull of this difficult trick well. They nod at the genre’s affectations but they nonetheless produce a lively and exciting tale.

All that and a rare instance of a movie that offers a genuinely clever Apocalypse Now reference. 99 percent of flicks like this mention the smell of something in the morning, but Wish alludes to the 1979 classic in an inventive manner.

Chalk up Wish as an almost shockingly pleasant surprise. Given the semi-mediocrity of the first flick and the rest of the Shrek tales, I expected more of the forgettable same here, but Wish turned into a consistent delight.

Footnote: a snippet after the end credits that will remind older viewers of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The image looked terrific.

Sharpness worked well, as the movie boasted consistently detailed elements. No softness emerged in this tight, accurate presentation.

I saw no shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes remained absent. The flick also lacked any print flaws.

Wish came with a broader than usual palette, one that favored no particular hues, though we did get an unusual amount of purple. The movie showed these colors in a vivid manner.

Blacks seemed dark and deep, while shadows appeared smooth and clear. Everything about the transfer pleased.

In addition, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack worked pretty well. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film included enough action scenes to add pep to the soundscape and make it an involving affair.

Music boasted nice multi-channel presence, and the mix came with a lot of well-placed localized speech as well. The soundfield didn’t bring constant action, but it meshed together nicely and became a pleasing presence.

Audio quality seemed good. Speech was distinctive and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music was perky and full, while effects appeared accurate and packed a nice punch. I felt this qualified as an “A-” mix.

We get a bunch of extras here, and we open with an audio commentary from director Joel Crawford, co-director Januel P. Mercado, producer Mark Swift, editor James Ryan and head of story Heidi Jo Gilbert. All sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters and connections to the Shrek universe, music, visual design and animation, cast and performances, references, inspirations and influences, Easter eggs and related areas.

Like many commentaries, this one suffers from a bit too much praise and happy talk. Still, it moves at a good pace and delivers more than enough useful movie content to make it worth a listen.

Called “The Trident”, a mini-movie runs four minutes, one second. In it, Puss recounts one of his eight deaths to Kitty and Perrito.

Happily, the original actors play their characters. “Trident” becomes an entertaining little adventure – albeit one with a bad ending for Puss.

Three Deleted Scenes fill a total of seven minutes, 57 seconds. Note those times include intros from Crawford and Mercado, as they provide basics about the sequences.

All three appear as story reels, and they give us varying levels of usefulness. None really needed to make the final cut, but they offer some interesting moments.

Under A Cast of Characters, we get six role-specific featurettes. All in all, these occupy 13 minutes, 24 seconds and offer remarks from Crawford, Ryan, Mercado, producer Mark Swift, associate producer Heather Lanza, and actors Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Samson Kayo, Wagner Moura and John Mulaney.

Across the clips, we learn about characters, cast and performances. I like the glimpses of the actors at work but the comments tend to remain superficial.

In the Beginning spans nine minutes, 12 seconds and provides info from Mercado, Hayek, Crawford, Swift, Banderas, Ryan, Gilbert, Moura, Pugh, Guillén, Mulaney, Lanza, Kayo, production designer Nate Wragg, head of character animation Ludovic Bouancheau, head of lighting Michael Necci, and composer Heitor Pereira.

Here we learn about issues related to the sequel, story/characters/themes, animation and visual design, and music. Expect a mix of praise and insights.

With Jack Horner’s Line-o-Rama, we get a one-minute, 44-second sequence in which we see John Mulaney attempt different lines for his character. This becomes a quick but fun reel.

A lyic video for “Fearless Hero” lasts three minutes, one second and mixes various forms of art with the expected on-screen words to the song. It seems innocuous but forgettable.

Within How to Draw the Purrfect Pawtrait, Crawford and Mercado teach us how to sketch Puss, Kitty and Perrito. All together, these clips take up 11 minutes, 53 seconds and offer an entertaining view of the methods used to create the characters.

How to Make a Paper Perrito goes for seven minutes, 14 seconds and gives viewers a craft lesson. Intended for kids, it lacks interest for others but youngsters may enjoy it.

Next comes Kitty Cam, a 14-minute, 28-second reel that mixes movie shots with images of actual cats as they perform actual cat activities. Feline fans may like it, as the critters seem adorable.

The disc opens with ads for Gabby’s Dollhouse and Universal Parks. No trailer for Wish appears here.

Although the first movie in the series seemed mediocre at best, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish brings us something substantially stronger. A great mix of comedy, action and emotion, the movie clicks. The Blu-ray boasts excellent picture and audio as well as a pretty decent set of supplements. A fine animated tale, I hope we get another Puss flick sooner rather than later.