“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is getting critical acclimation as the best animated feature of the year, and it wholeheartedly deserves it.

With a budget of $90 million, this movie pulls out all the stops and does it extremely well. The movie adopts a style of animation similar to the kind seen in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” called animating “on-two’s” (where a new drawing is made or the image is shifted every second frame), which creates snappy character movement that just hits in an inexplicably, aesthetically pleasing way.

The original “Puss in Boots” movie that Dreamworks™ made was released in 2011, and while “The Last Wish” is technically a sequel to that movie, it works as a standalone film, so you don’t have to worry about rewatching the 2011 film (or going back to watch it if you haven’t before) to be able to enjoy “The Last Wish.” It has a completely separate story, however, there’s easter eggs and references for those who did watch the original (and for the “Shrek” movies from the same franchise!)

The story itself, in the most non-spoiler way possible, is absolutely phenomenal, and the movie can easily be enjoyed by any age. While it’s a kids film, it edges towards a slightly more mature tone, and isn’t afraid to show some good ol’ fantasy violence, blood (in very little amounts), and even some “craps” and a “what the hell?”, which a lot of more recent kids films would never dare to do. Still, the movie fits in nice morals about family and cherishing what you have, as any good kids film does, but it never feels forced or irritatingly corny. The movie takes the viewer and itself seriously, which is incredibly refreshing to see.

Even the goofy animal companion (the sweater dog, Perrito, that some may have seen in the trailer) is thoroughly likable, which is a hard feat to accomplish. While, yes, he is mostly there for the comic relief and to ease tension, it never feels over the top or annoying. ALong with that, Perrito has aspirations to be a therapy dog, and he has a very heartwarming moment involving that, which was done incredibly well (I will not be spoiling it, so you’ll just have to watch it for yourself).

Overall, I’d give “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” a 9/10 (Because no movie is perfect, of course, though this one comes pretty close as far as animated movies go). The art direction of the film looks beautiful, the character re-designs look great (Puss’s eyeliner is immaculate), and the plot went at just the right pace and was highly gratifying. Go see this movie if you have the chance, preferably with friends or family, because it is incredibly sweet.