Isle of Dogs is an a 2018 animated adventure about a young Japanese boy who goes against the wishes of his cat loving uncle to rescue his beloved pet from a land where dogs are banished
The name Wes Anderson certainly conjures up a lot of thoughts for movie fans. His films are considered quirky and maybe a little pretentious while his use of sets and characters seem like they belong more on a stage than screen. Some might say his films suffer from all style and little substance, but hey, what’s wrong with having some style lead the way?
Ever since Bottle Rocket (1996), I’ve been a fan. The Royal Tenenbaums, Grand Budapest Hotel, The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Rushmore all sit among the top as favorites, and even as every one of his films feature that unique style, they are very different from each other … so much so that his name alone has become its own genre. Sort of like when you describe a movie directed by David Lynch or Stanley Kubrick or Guillermo Del Toro or Quentin Tarantino or Sofia Coppola. So what’s up with his latest, and how does it fare against the rest of his work?
Set in Japan in the late 50s early 60s, an epidemic of dog flu breaks out causing concerns among the citizens and prompting Mayor Kobayashi (voiced by Kunichi Nomura) to move all dogs to the landfill across the sea. One of the first canines to be brought over is Spots (voiced by Liev Schriber). When his owner Atari (voiced by Koyu Rankin) learns what happened, he hijacks a small plane and makes his way to the island where he is met by several other dogs, including Rex (voiced by Edward Norton), Chief (voiced by Bryan Cranston), Boss (voiced by Bill Murray), Duke (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) and King (voiced by Bob Balaban). They soon all join forces to find Atari’s pet.
The script by Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi Nomura is brilliant in the way that it surprises. The basic premise of a young boy who goes to a landfill to rescue his dog, meeting others (with a famous celebrity voice attached) was just a start. However, the story led to places I did not expect. Trying to describe this is like telling someone about a restaurant that serves a really good burger. Yes, you can go most anywhere and get a burger, but there’s something kinda special about this one. Isle of Dogs is that kinda special.
Right off the start, it was a smart move to have all the human characters not have subtitles. Since this was set in Japan and features Japanese actors in the roles, I liked how they were understood by either a device or by a translator. Frances McDormand and Greta Gerwig play roles that allow them to translate certain words but it’s not throughout the movie. We are seeing this from the dog’s perspective only and to have them hear a language that many U.S. audience members are not familiar with, it makes us empathize more with them.
This is the second time Wes Anderson has worked with stop motion animation and the result is even better than the first. Not to discredit The Fantastic Mr. Fox, because that movie is its own little masterpiece, but I feel in this one there was more detail, and not just in the way it was animated but in the story itself. Furthermore, Isle of Dogs is an entirely original script.
The look of the dogs and the set designs are incredible. Cinematographer Tristan Oliver, who helped shoot other stop motion animated features like ParaNorman and Chicken Run brought a sense of authenticity to this feature that would have been lost if this was done as a straight CGI flick. The only time it features any CGI is when they show glimpses of security camera footage. The score, by Oscar winning composer Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water), is also quite affecting. That opening credit sequences with the drums is a winner.
Will kids like this movie? Hard to say. This style might seem strange to some who have grown up on computer animated films, but that shouldn’t be a barrier. More so, there’s nothing too terribly traumatic, though there is a realistic operation. One doesn’t need to be a historian to follow, and while I don’t know if there ever was a dog flu epidemic, Anderson and his writers at least made me believe there could have been. If you’re a dog lover or a fan of stop-motion animation, there’s plenty here to enjoy. Highly recommended.