Long have you found yourself wondering what adventures a cat wearing boots may have. Perhaps you’ve pondered who he may face in battle if said cat in boots where to have a rapier. Now, maybe you’ve even wondered what may happen if a cat in boots with a rapier where to go out seeking a star that could grant him any wish. Well, believe it or not, you just described the plot of, dare I say, one of the best movies I’ve ever watched. Oh, and regard your thinking of “cat in boots”, for our hero of legends is known as the one and only Puss in Boots.

This movie is unlike any other Puss in Boots movie ever, or really, unlike any appearance you’ve seen of Puss in any movie. While in other movies the point was to follow the fearless adventure of the hero Puss in Boots, this movie exposes the fear of losing everything, life itself. After dying for the 8th time, Puss has a rude awakening. After not valuing a single one of his previous eight lives, laughing in the face of demise each and every time, he must confront Death, who has set out to take his final one, and he’s not laughing anymore. For the first time, Puss feels the fear of dying, to never to come back again, and goes to hide in an old cat lady’s house, never to be heard from again. Anyway, he hears about the Wishing Star, and he begins the journey to reach it, to give himself more lives.

Now, this all sounds like a normal plot to any Puss movie. Something or someone is in peril, Puss runs off to wherever his destination in mind is and saves the day or achieves his goal, right? Fool. You really thought they would copy and paste a basic format like that? Of course not. Puss isn’t running towards a goal, he’s running to a safe place to hide from what terrifies him. But that’s it right? Surely nothing more could add to this movie. That is what you may be thinking correct? Well once again you would be wrong.

On his way to the wishing star, he encounters a small abandoned dog that journeys with him, and later on, reunites with his love interest, Kitty Soft Paws (whom he left at the altar). With three characters, new ideals are formed in Puss’ mind, and he begins to recognize his flaws, how he can improve, and what he has done wrong. He starts to realize who he really is. You see my reader, this is no movie about getting his lives back, for what I did not mention was the toll staying at an old cat lady’s house took on Puss. The whole movie up until the end, Puss tries to regain who he once was, and this is where the beauty of the movie comes from. Only by stepping back, and then trying to fit back into his old shoes does Puss realize who he really was. Throughout every single scene, fighting or not, the self reflection is always staring at Puss right in his face.

Finally, after many battles with his enemies also aiming for the Wishing Star (who I wont talk about because they will take up time I could spend talking about self reflection), Puss makes it. With the scroll revealing the chant he must say to make his wish, he is finally about to get the lives he so desires. Que a big fight over this scroll later right before he can make his wish, and you land at the fight with Death. Which, if I may add, is one of the best fight scenes I’ve seen between two characters out of a DreamWorks animated movie. At the end of this fight, Puss has become an entirely different person. Staring Death in the face and stating that he will never be able to beat him, but he will never stop fighting for the last life he has left.

Just for context, Puss does not end up with eight more lives, and instead decides to tear up the scroll to prevent it from falling into evil’s hands, and accepts his last life, as his last.