Puss in Boots: The Last Wish(2022)

Plot Summary

• The wishing star fell on Earth many eons ago and created the dark black forest where it fell. It gave new life to the forest. The star has the legend of a single wish locked away in it, waiting to be granted. While hosting a party in the town of Del Mar, legendary hero and outlaw Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) accidentally awakens a sleeping giant. He subdues the creature but is crushed by a bell. Waking up in a hospital, the town doctor (Anthony Mendez) informs him that he has lost eight of his nine lives and suggests Puss should retire. That night in a bar, Puss meets a black-hooded wolf (Wagner Moura), who disarms and wounds him in a sword-fight. Puss is not able to mount any resistance to the Wolf and is scared for the first time in his lifeTraumatized, Puss flees to the house of cat lady Mama Luna (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), where he buries his clothes and meets an optimistic Chihuahua disguised as a cat whom he calls Perrito (Harvey Guillén) (a friendly and naive therapy dog who started out as one of Mama Luna's pet cats). Puss is bored by the sedated lifestyle at Mama Luna's. He shares the place with many many other cats and has no identity left what-so-ever.Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and her Three Bears Crime Family (Mama Bear (Olivia Colman), Papa Bear (Ray Winstone) & baby bear (Samson Kayo)) soon arrive at Luna's home. They plan to hire Puss to steal a map bearing the Wishing Star's location from pastry chef and crime boss "Big" Jack Horner (John Mulaney), but fail to recognize Puss in Boots and leave after finding his "grave" (where Puss had buried his clothes and sword). Puus overhears Goldi talking about the map to the Wishing Star and that the map will be with Big Jack Horner. Horner, a feared pastry chef and crime lord who plans to use the Wishing Star to gain control of all magicPuss decides to use the Star to restore his lost lives. Accompanied by Perrito, he breaks into Horner's bakery to steal the map, but is interrupted by his resentful ex-fiance Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault) (a street-savvy Tuxedo cat who is Puss' ex-fiance, and seeks the Wishing Star to find somebody she can trust), Horner, and Goldi and the bears. Puss manages to escape with the map alongside Kitty and Perrito, though he sees the wolf threaten him while fleeing.The map leads the trio to the Dark Forest, a pocket dimension that changes its landscape depending on the map's holder. Puss and Kitty get the path with the most deadly obstacles, but Perrito's path is littered with rainbows and rivers of relaxation. Puss and Kitty hand the map to Perrito. Meanwhile the bears, Goldi and Horner are in pursuit of the trio. At the Pocket Full of Posies, giant roses block their path. Perrito gets them through by simply smelling the roses. Horner follows and uses his Phoenix to burn the entire rose meadow down.During another clash with Horner, his henchmen, and Goldi and the bears, Puss sees the wolf again and runs off, distracting Kitty and allowing Goldi to obtain the map. After Perrito calms Puss' panic attack, Puss confesses to being on his last life, and his remorse for leaving Kitty on their wedding day. Kitty overhears them and reveals that she never attended the wedding either, believing Puss could not love anyone more than himself.Puss and Kitty steal back the map while Goldi and the bears are distracted by a manifestation of their woodland cottage where Goldi and the bears first met (Goldi's path went through Nostalgic Pines). As the dimension shifts, Puss accidentally traps himself in a crystalline cave (In the Caves of Lost Souls), where he encounters his arrogant past lives, and the wolf, who reveals himself as Death. The black hooded wolf is initially presumed to be a bounty hunter. He wants to personally kill Puss as punishment for Puss wasting eight of his nine lives. He wields twin sickles that combine into a double-bladed weapon.Feeling disrespected by Puss not valuing his extra lives, Death wants to take Puss' final life prematurely. Horrified, Puss runs out of the cave towards the Star alone, ignoring Kitty and Perrito's pleas for him to stop. Kitty feels that Puss has again betrayed her. Meanwhile, Goldi reveals to the bears that her wish is to be reunited with her biological family; although they are devastated, the bears agree to help her.Puss arrives at the Star and begins to make his wish using the map, but is confronted by Kitty, who berates him for his selfishness and confesses that her wish was to find someone she could trust. Goldi, the bears, and Horner arrive, and a fight ensues for the map; Goldi briefly obtains the map, but abandons it to save Baby Bear, while Kitty traps Horner inside his magical bottomless bag. Death mounts the Star and challenges Puss. Having learned the value of life from his time with his companions, Puss forgoes wishing for more lives and accepts Death's duel. Puss disarms the wolf, and declares that while he knows he can never defeat Death, he will never stop fighting for his last life. Seeing that Puss has lost his arrogance, Death begrudgingly spares him. Before leaving, Death and Puss agree they will meet again one day.Horner eats a magic snack inside the bag, which makes him gigantic and allows him to escape. He attempts to make his wish to control all of the world's magic for himself, but Perrito distracts him long enough for Puss, Kitty, and Goldi to destroy the map, causing the Star to collapse and consume Horner. In the aftermath, Goldi affirms to the bears that they are her true family, and they leave to take over Horner's bakery. Puss rekindles his romance with Kitty; the two and Perrito later steal a ship and set sail to the Kingdom of Far Far Away.

Storyline

• Sadly, Puss in Boots, the undaunted Spanish lover and hero, is now down to the last of his nine lives, a decade after the events of Puss in Boots (2011) . And as if that weren't enough, the unstoppable bounty hunter known as The Big Bad Wolf is after him. To restore all of his precious lives and escape an inglorious fate, Puss must pluck up his courage to embark on a dangerous quest into the Dark Forest to find the legendary Wishing Star. However, Puss isn't the only one seeking the map to the magical star. As the daring outlaw puts his skills to good use to stay one step ahead of formidable adversaries determined to get their hands on it, a crucial question arises: Does he have what it takes to face his most skilled and terrifying opponent and get his life back on track? — Nick Riganas