(spoiler free)
‘Isle of Dogs’ isn’t Wes Anderson’s first attempt at a stop-motion animated feature film. Back in 2009 he brought us his brilliant adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic novel, ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’. This was an excellent retelling of the much loved children’s story and it’s my personal favourite of Anderson’s films to date. Therefore it was with much confidence that the film world, myself included, received the news that the director would be returning with another stop-motion animated feature.
His latest film follows a young boy from Japan in the near future who embarks on a mission to find his missing dog after the entire species is banished to an island amidst an outbreak of disease. The actual animation work itself is fantastic. It’s a beautiful film to look at and the attention to detail and creativity on show is a joy to witness. However, whilst initially amusing the overall narrative is somewhat lacking. It fails to be as interesting as the characters contained within it and it’s missing that special pace that is usually present in an Anderson film. Nonetheless it’s the wide array of quirky characters, brought to life brilliantly by the Wes Anderson alumni, that makes ‘Isle of Dogs’ worth checking out.
If you can get past the, at times, frustrating lack of subtitles and the not overly engaging story, ‘Isle of Dogs’ could be an enjoyable animated experience for you. However feeling much longer than it actually is it would maybe have been better suited to a running time more likely to be attached to a short film. As always though Anderson and audiences alike can rely on the humongous, varied and talented voice cast assembled to bring his oddball creations to life. Coupled with the beautiful animation work these elements provide a solid foundation but the lack of a fully engaging narrative fails to allow this animation to achieve it’s full potential.
Written by Hamish Calvert
Rating – 6/10
Question: What is your favourite Wes Anderson film?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)
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Thanks to Movie House Cinemas for screening access
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