Isle of Dogs (2018) - First Reaction - EJE

Greetings my fellow meme-consumers, I have just seen Isle of Dogs (2018), written and directed by Wes Anderson, starring Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, and a whole bunch of other people, including some Wes Anderson regulars as well as some new faces for the director. This is Anderson’s ninth outing as director and the fifth film of his I have seen. I saw Moonrise Kingdom (2012) a few years ago so I cannot say if I would enjoy now and just within the past year have had the pleasure of seeing Rushmore (1998), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), and Darjeeling Limited (2007), which I have put in descending order of my preference here. I would recommend all films for the same reasons anyone would recommend a Wes Anderson film, although Darjeeling slows down a little in the second half, hence its placement here. Rushmore and Fantastic Mr. Fox are neck and neck as Rushmore is one of the few films where I audibly laughed despite watching it alone but the style and sheer enjoyment of Fantastic Mr. Fox is something to be reckoned with. Speaking of Fantastic, Isle of Dogs is Anderson’s second stop-motion film that also features talking animals who are able to communicate with humans. Those are really the only parallels between the two films apart from the stylistic nature that binds all of Anderson’s films. Isle of Dogs is a much more gritty, adult film than Fox which was based on a Roald Dahl book. While still a fun quirky adventure overall, there is some incredibly dark subject matter in the film that turns this film off from the average family viewing experience. Death has a very real presence in the film which allows for some of the most tense sequences Anderson has ever helmed, even though what we are seeing is never flesh and blood. Alexandre Desplat’s magnificent score also helps keep the suspense going with one of the more memorable and unique scores in recent memory for me, striking a very different tone from his folky, quaint score for Fox. Technically speaking, this may be one of the best stop-motion films I have ever seen, feeling larger than any Aardman outing and even bigger than Laika’s most ambitious projects like Kubo (2016). Every shot is absolute visual perfection that leaps off the screen in a way that live-action would struggle to. While the musical sequences in Fox blew me away, several scenes in this film contained that same complexity, with a scene involving the preparing of sushi standing out. It is hard to describe in words what I saw on the screen as it is something to behold. Despite being intimidated by the large voice cast, the focus is on the relationship between Bryan Cranston’s Chief and Koyu Rankin’s Atari, which is so incredibly sweet without becoming cheesy or overdone. The performances and writing in this film are subtle in their approach, not feeling like most voice acting in animation which feels the need to be a cartoon in and of itself. The voice acting feels like real people speaking even when its voicing for dogs. Every character feels unique despite the similar subtle approach. Despite their limited screen time, I could not imagine the lines of Bill Murray and Jeff Goldblum being switched and still working the way they do here. There are a few running rags that grew tiresome, but only one really stuck out and was addressed in the film, which allowed for some forgiveness. While the story is simple, I like a simple story done well, especially with all of the little touches added to each frame (literally) by hand. The subtitles and visual gags added for some great humor which I am sure I will find more of on second viewing. Also the representation of television through a more traditional animation style (although I do not know the exact type nor can I find the name of it currently) and the use of a translator in the film were very unique and added an aesthetic quality that can not be found even in other Anderson films and certainly not in any films by other directors. I cannot recommend this movie enough. If you do not enjoy Wes Anderson, I would not say this film will change that, but I do think it can at least be appreciated on a technical aspect. A.