Wes Anderson who directed one
of my personal favorite films “Moonrise Kingdom”, a contemporary, quirky and deliciously
romantic story about adolescent first love, delves into the refreshing genre of
a stop-motion animated comedy titled “Isle of Dogs”. A fictional tale set in a
dystopian near-future Japan that tells the story of the entire species of dogs
are banished to an island due to an illness outbreak.
Early on in the movie we see
the Mayor, by executive decree, banishing all the canine pets of Megasaki City Japan
to the exiled vast garbage-dump called Trash Island. But a 12-year-old boy
named Atari finds out his dog has been sent to the island too and quickly sets
off all alone in a miniature Junior-Turbo Prop to fly across the river to the Island
in search of his trusted beloved bodyguard-dog named “Spots”. There with the
assistance of a pack of newly-found mongrel friends lead by “Chief” he begins
an epic journey that will decide the fate and future of the entire country’s government
and dogs.
REVIEW: Bryan
Cranston leads an all-star (voice over) cast as the dog “Chief”; the dog in
charge of a pack on trash Island. The rest of the dog cast includes Edward
Norton as “Rex”, Bob Balaban as “King”,
Bill Murray as “Boss”, Jeff Goldblum as “Duke”, Frances McDormand as The
Japanese Interpreter “Nelson”, Scarlett
Johansson as “Nutmeg”, Harvey Keitel as “Gondo”, F. Murray Abraham as
“Jupiter”, Yoko Ono as “Assistant Scientist Yoko Ono”, Tilda Swinton as “Oracle” Ken Watanabe as
“Head Surgeon”, Fisher Stevens as “Scrap”, Liev Schreiber as “Spots”, Courtney
B. Vance as the narrator, and Anjelica Huston as “Mute Poodle”.
Look, I already know that I
will get very few of my friends to ever see this film. And while it is thematically
dark it nevertheless is still a fabulously meticulous, enchanting and splendid film
about the unique enduring bond between humans and dogs. More so, the film is a joyous
old fashion rolling around on the floor belly rub homage to the universal sweetness
of dogs, their intelligence and their immense loyalty. And no matter how much
humans have betrayed that bond dogs still remain deep within the fabric of
their DNA resiliently committed to a relationship with humans even at times to the
detriment of their own species.
Now if you are generally turned
off by the idea of watching a 1:41 minute running time animated film about dogs
living on an island of trash, then it is your lost, especially if you are a dog
owner yourself. This film is a smart change
of pace without being some dumbed downed effort to solely manipulate the sentimental heart string relationship you have with your own pet. And while the dogs in this film do have perfect diction
with
well-developed intellect and vocabularies interacting with another, there is no
“Scooby Doo” doggy accents to giggle about. Anderson’s dog story moves much
deeper and broader into that core contractual non-verbal dynamic between dogs
and humans, such as in when we first see our dogs and they greet us at the door. With them waging their tales profusely, we talk to them and they talk (bark) back to
us. Now we don’t actually cross communicate between species but we are reminded
that dogs are simply great and we are especially and uniquely blessed to having them in our
lives with their unwavering and unquestioning love.
“Isle of Dogs” is both satirically serious and funny at the same time. It is also an introspective and clever film that in my guess if you do see
it will pull on your inward heart just enough to seeking
out your own dog, or your neighbor’s dog or even a strangers
dog; “unleashing” that emotion urge to just finding find them for a pat on their head and
for them to smile back at you.
3.50 Stars
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