[Source: CBR]

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the follow-up to 2011’s Shrek spinoff Puss in Boots, is already scoring surprisingly high with critics and audiences ahead of its official release.

Rotten Tomatoes has collected the first few early reviews of the film, and it currently has a critic score of 100 percent. The audience score, which has over 50 verified ratings, is just a tad below at 98 percent.

For comparison, the first film is certified fresh with 86 percent and a total of 155 reviews while the audience score comes in at 67 percent with over 50,000 verified ratings.

Voiced by Antonio Banderas, Puss in Boots was introduced in 2004’s Shrek 2. The swashbuckling cat was initially sent out to assassinate Shrek by King Harold.

After ultimately failing to defeat Shrek in an ambush, Puss reveals he was paid by King Harold to eliminate him and offers to be his ally instead.

After returning in two more Shrek installments, 2011’s Puss in Boots served as an origin story for the titular character.

In the film, Puss is joined by his friends Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) and Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) as he goes up against Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris), two outlaws that have taken ownership of legendary magical beans that lead to the Golden Eggs from the Goose.

The Shrek spinoff proved to be a great success, grossing $149.3 million at the domestic box office and $555 million worldwide.

The film also garnered awards attention, earning nominations for Best Animated Feature Film at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, respectively.

Plans for a sequel to Puss in Boots began as early as 2012, with work beginning on the project in 2014. Joel Crawford stepped in to helm the sequel, replacing Chris Miller, and he is joined by Januel Mercado, who serves as co-director.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish follows Puss in another adventure as he sets out to find the mystical Last Wish, which can restore eight of his nine lives.

In addition to Banderas and Hayek, new performers lending their voices to the sequel include Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman and Ray Winstone.