No arthouse indie
director has been quite synonymous with the term mainstream popularity as Wes
Anderson. Despite being labeled as a hipster director, Anderson has now become
a household name and for good reason given that his films are often critically
acclaim, modest box office success, and also garner award attention. One of the
most notable films that helped increase his popularity is his stop motion
adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr.
Fox. Fantastic Mr. Fox is an
incredible piece of work that’s not only a cleverly written piece from Wes, but
also one of the most unique, stylized and mature animated films ever made. It
is incredibly exciting to see Wes return to animation with his newest film, the Isle of Dogs, a film that may not
get to the heights that Mr. Fox
achieved but is such a rarity when it comes to animation, it’s hard not to
recommend.
The film takes place in future Japan where
due to an over population of canine infestation, all dogs are exiled to a place
known as trash island. Things go awry when a young boy named Atari who is in search
of his dog Spots, travels to the island and teams up with a group of dogs to
help find his lost dog and also discovers what maybe the solution to save all
the dogs from being isolated from Japan. Isle
of Dog’s first act might as well be one of the best openings to any
animated film; it entices you with its clever writing and also incredibly
engaging character introductions and world building. The way the film opens
just sets the mood for an incredible experience. However after a certain point,
the film doesn’t quite go back to the heights of the first 30 minutes the film
had to offer. Nothing is executed horribly, but there are moments that feel as
it drags on a bit with characters and elements that feel a bit rushed and under-developed.
It film still ends with a lot of very exciting moments and interesting themes
about prejudice that albeit a bit overdone, is still profound and told very
well through the eyes of man’s best friend. It’s true that Isle of Dogs does reaches the peak of its greatness before the
second act even begins but even with that in mind, it’s still very well done.
A Wes Anderson movie wouldn’t be complete
without an excellence cast of characters played by an all-star cast and Isle of Dogs certainly delivers. The
cast does an excellent job of providing great performances of their characters
and given Anderson’s fun use of dialogue, these characters certainly feel more
alive and enjoyable to watch than ever. The highlight is definitely Bryan
Cranston as Chief, who out of all the characters in the film, has the most of
an arch being more accepting of humans as time goes on and also the one that
has the best lines written for him. However, unlike Mr. Fox where that film nearly every character has some sort of
purpose to the film for even as minor as they can be and also contains a lot of
maturity in their characters, Isle of
Dogs doesn’t quite have that luxury. Outside of characters like Chief, some
of the other don’t quite feel as developed which may come across as a bit
disappointing. The film does have a big cast so it’s not surprising that not
every character is fully developed however what makes it somewhat of a bummer
is either the side characters that are incredibly enjoyable like Chief’s gang
of dogs don’t get nearly as much screen time as they probably should or
characters like Atari’s caregiver or the foreign exchange student researching
on the situation on trash island, aren’t given that much of a character or
backstory to the point where some of their scenes feel kind of like filler. Even
with some of the faults the film has with its characters, they’re written well enough
to be funny and engaging and characters like Chief make the film much better to
watch as a whole.
When comparing Wes’ previous animated
efforts with Fantastic Mr. Fox to
other stop motion animated films, it stands out as one of the most unique
looking of the bunch. Rather than relying on a horror theme in the vain of a
Laika or Henry Selick film or a classic Claymation look from Aardman, Wes
Anderson made a film unlike anything you’ve ever seen with a fall aesthetic and
characters with way more realism and texture put to them in comparison to
previous stop motion animal characters. Isle
of Dogs continues that trend of creating a more visually unique animated
film. It still maintains the unique character models that something like Fantastic Mr. Fox had but also stands
out from that film, looking more gritty and dark while also being more
technologically advance where Fantastic
Mr. Fox strived to look more old timey and classic. Not to mention outside
of the film’s excellent look for an animated feature, Wes Anderson’s directing
style is still intact with all of the quick pans, overhead shots and
descriptive text one would expect from a film from Wes. His directing style is
still prominent and one that helps make Isle
of Dogs a very unique animated film and if there is one thing the film was
expected to exceed at and does, it was creating a visually immersive world
through the time consuming and impressive that is stop motion animation.
Isle
of Dogs may not reach the heights of Fantastic
Mr. Fox or Grand Budapest, nor
does it get quite as amazing as its first 30 minutes, but the creativity and
ambition shine through. It is well written, has engaging characters and
visually outstanding even with a few shortcomings here and there. It’s not only
a quality movie but also a PG-13 Stop Motion Animated movie from Wes Anderson,
something that doesn’t come so often, so it definitely is a must see.
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