This 5-star movie is almost paw-fect and easily one of the best kids’ movies of the last decade

The stars: Antonia Banderas, Salma Hayek, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone and Florence Pugh The story: When Puss discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll and he has burned through eight of his nine lives, he launches an epic journey to restore them by finding the mythical Last Wish.

I don’t exactly know what I was expecting from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, but it wasn’t this!

As any parent will testify, cinema time with the smallies can be a testing couple of hours. The endless mind-numbing animation of most kids’ movies usually results in mums and dads spending most of their time focussed on their phone.

Obviously, there are exceptions to the rule as movie makers use innuendo and throw-back gags to keep parents entertained.

But Puss in Boots doesn’t dabble in such gimmickry as for 90 minutes the movie had all four members in the palm of its paw.

It is funny. It is entertaining. And guess what…there is a truly brilliant message to take from it that isn’t sugar coated in a patronising smugness like you get in other movies. This was the warm fuzzy feeling we didn’t know we needed as we left the cinema reminding ourselves of all the brilliant characters, jokes and animation.

Hinged on the now-iconic Puss in Boots from the Shrek movies, the leading cat is as suave, charismatic and daring as he always was. The only problem facing the feline is that he has just lost his eighth life and now faces into retirement out of fear that the next death will be his last. But when he hears about his chance to win all his lives back thanks to the mythical Last Wish deep within the Dark Forest he sets off on an adventure of a lifetime with his new friend Perrito, his fiery ex Kitty Softpaws and a long list of brilliant fairytale characters who are all competing for the same thing.

Antonio Banderas returns as Puss while Salma Hayek voices Kitty. Other huge names like Olivia Colman, Florence Pugh and Ray Winstone are also involved adding their voices to the distinctly-English Goldilocks and the three bears.

The animators clearly had some fun with this and delved into the world of anime for their inspiration using a process called step animation for the brilliant action sequences. Right from the beginning you can see how they have used this; and you instantly accept it. Mild confusion quickly dissipates as you get immersed in Puss’ feline shenanigans.

Then when the action subsides, the Dreamworks animators revert back to a more traditional CGI animation where you can literally see and count every single hair on the swashbuckling furball’s head.

I have willingly and happily sat through some serious movie drivel through the years in an attempt to keep my kids happy, but I have seen the light and it is easily one of the best kids’ movies of the last decade.

The Verdict: I already feel sorry for whatever comes next on our list.