Random Movie Review - Isle of Dogs

About nine years ago (or more if you are reading this from the future), consistently praised filmmaker Wes Anderson made his first ever stop motion film known as Fantastic Mr. Fox which was the first film adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's book of the same name. It was widely praised in almost all areas despite being nominated for a number of Academy Awards, but winning none. And now we have his second ever stop motion film which is based on one of his own screenplays. From the title alone, most people would believe that it could be a cute film about an island where dogs reside. Well this being Wes Anderson, it doesn't come close to what this film really is. So let's get to it:

Before I begin writing the spoiler free summary, I should point out that while it may look like a foreign film from the start, it actually isn't. Much of the human characters speak Japanese to keep things authentic, but that's often accompanied by translators and subtitles. Meanwhile the dogs themselves speak in English. So before you judge the film, just remember that it's trying to keep it authentic and not doing that age old trend of using actors of Eastern descent who only talk their native language for a bit and then English for the rest of the film. Anyway, onto the summary:

Set in a dystopian near future Japan, a disease starts spreading across the canine community in Japan which research shows that it can inflict humans as well. To combat this, a bunch of Japanese politicians send all the dogs (owned and strays alike) to what becomes known as Trash Island. However the adopted son of one of the politicians (voiced by Koyo Rankin) travels to Trash Island to find his dog Spots (voiced by Sabretooth himself, Liev Schreiber though I'm sure there are much better films he has done than X-Men Origins: Wolverine) who was the first dog to be exiled and due to his nature, is the possibly last hope the dogs have to being loved by humans again. There the boy travels with a group of other dogs (each voiced by Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray and Jeff Goldblum) to find Spots and save dog kind before the corrupt politicians wipe them out.

Although it is an enjoyable watch that maintains Wes Anderson's style of film making, its one of those films that only specific audiences will like more than everyone. By which I mean that dog lovers, sitters and owners will be disturbed by it. Politicians in the current political climate will be appalled by it. Activists will praise it and people like me will just enjoy the film for what it is and never mind the message that it puts across. Its visually good for a stop motion film, its authenticity is excellent (and no one should judge a film just because it has foreign actors in it) and like Anderson's other work, it gets straight to the point and feels like watching an interactive story book come to life. But just be warned of the things I said before going into this. Your kids may get something out of this, but it may disturb them for a while nonetheless. 9/10