Wes Anderson's animated film 'Isle of Dogs'

[terry78]

Has anybody actually seen this?

 

[Drizzle]

It doesn't come out in my area until next week. I'm probably gonna check it out. I need my Jeff Goldblum fix.

 

[zephyrinthesky]

Saw this last night. It's cute and gorgeous, and overall a good time. Definitely geared more towards adults than kids, which is refreshing for an animated film.

This was my first Wes Anderson film - honestly, as highly-regarded as he is by cinephiles, I didn't see what the big deal was. I was impressed by the visuals and entertained enough by the dialogue, but nothing blew me away. The cast is loaded with talent but nobody besides Bryan Cranston gets enough screentime to really stand out.

I'd give the film 7.5/10.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Saw this last night. It's cute and gorgeous, and overall a good time. Definitely geared more towards adults than kids, which is refreshing for an animated film.

This was my first Wes Anderson film - honestly, as highly-regarded as he is by cinephiles, I didn't see what the big deal was. I was impressed by the visuals and entertained enough by the dialogue, but nothing blew me away. The cast is loaded with talent but nobody besides Bryan Cranston gets enough screentime to really stand out.

I'd give the film 7.5/10.

Watch The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Grand Budapest Hotel, and then get back to me

I love Wes Anderson's work, but for me personally, these are my favorite movies of his.

 

[Elayis]

I tried watching Bottle Shock the other day and just couldn't get into it; felt very self-conscious and overly stylized.

Still, really looking forward to this movie (my favorites of Anderson's are the same as Spider-Fan, as well Fantastic Mr. Fox). Kinda bummed this comes the same day as You Were Never Really Here, though; hope I don't have to choose between the two.

For those who have seen it, what's your opinion regarding the accusations of racism/cultural appropriation made against the film?

 

[DACrowe]

Has anybody actually seen this?

I saw it. It was pretty good. If you like Wes Anderson's style, which I do, it is kind of amusing to see it placed atop dogs. But that joke, which is already visible in the trailers and marketing, is about all there is. The story itself is pretty bleh to me. It is certainly one of his lesser works.

 

[DACrowe]

Saw this last night. It's cute and gorgeous, and overall a good time. Definitely geared more towards adults than kids, which is refreshing for an animated film.

This was my first Wes Anderson film - honestly, as highly-regarded as he is by cinephiles, I didn't see what the big deal was. I was impressed by the visuals and entertained enough by the dialogue, but nothing blew me away. The cast is loaded with talent but nobody besides Bryan Cranston gets enough screentime to really stand out.

I'd give the film 7.5/10.

See The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and if you enjoyed those also Rushmore and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

They are all leaps and bounds better than Isle of Dogs, which was "fine." In fact, I'd say Isle is in fact his worst film if not for the fact that I downright dislike The Darjeeling Limited (also one to skip).

 

[zephyrinthesky]

I tried watching Bottle Shock the other day and just couldn't get into it; felt very self-conscious and overly stylized.

Still, really looking forward to this movie (my favorites of Anderson's are the same as Spider-Fan, as well Fantastic Mr. Fox). Kinda bummed this comes the same day as You Were Never Really Here, though; hope I don't have to choose between the two.

For those who have seen it, what's your opinion regarding the accusations of racism/cultural appropriation made against the film?

I think the "white saviour" issue is at play with this film with respect to Greta Gerwig's character. Why is it the white American exchange student that rallies the locals to do something? The fact that the intelligible dialogue is all from white actors (basically putting Japanese in the background) can rub people the wrong way.

Negasaki City is somewhat stereotypical Japan, especially if the film is supposed to be set in the future.

I don't think it's blatant "whitewashing" that justifies a huge outcry, but I can definitely see where complaints can come from. Especially when it comes to Tracy's role.

 

[Kane52630]

My review

Spoiler

Enjoyable for the most part, but it's not as great as everyone saying it is. I really love the love Wes Anderson gives to the Japanese culture that's not anime or pop. Just like with his Fantastic Mr. Fox, he did a great job on stop motion animation. And the voice acting was also fun, I thought Bryan Cranston stole the show multiple times. My issue with it is it had to jungle between the human characters and the dog characters and it never felt cohesive. The white girl exchange student (played by Greta Gerwig) was pretty annoying and felt kinda crowbarred in this just to appeal to Americans. It needed more scenes with the dogs than the humans. And I thought the script could have been better, it was no Grand Budapest or Fantastic Mr. Fox. The movie was about 90 mins long, but it felt like 2+ hrs. Overall, it's a decent little movie that had some fun moments.

7.5/10

 

[Kane52630]

For those who have seen it, what's your opinion regarding the accusations of racism/cultural appropriation made against the film?

It felt like they forced in a white character for no reason.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

While we are on this track, my five favorite Wes Anderson flicks would be:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

[zephyrinthesky]

[YT]QrBvVOoQXCA[/YT]

Crazy how much work goes into stop-motion. No wonder why animation is mostly computer-based now.

 

[DACrowe]

Spoiler

While we are on this track, my five favorite Wes Anderson flicks would be:

1.

2.

3.

4.

I'll see you and meet you with:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Nice Crowe.

I need to see the Life Aquatic again. It has been ages, but like with all his films outside of Darjeeling, I remember rather loving it. In fact, considering a marathon with a friend next week. She hasn't seen most of his films and it seems like a fun way to prepare for Isle's release.

 

[tzarinna]

I'm debating if I'm going to take my son to this. I loved Fantastic Mr. Fox, my son wasn't really into it.

 

[Kane52630]

While we are on this track, my five favorite Wes Anderson flicks would be:

Spoiler

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

I'll see you and meet you with:

Spoiler

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel

2. Fantastic Mr. Fox

3. The Royal Tenenbaums

4. Isle of Dogs

5. Moonrise Kingdom

 

[DACrowe]

Nice Crowe.

I need to see the Life Aquatic again. It has been ages, but like with all his films outside of Darjeeling, I remember rather loving it. In fact, considering a marathon with a friend next week. She hasn't seen most of his films and it seems like a fun way to prepare for Isle's release.

Life Aquatic has its detractors, but it really worked for me. I think it was in a way Peak Anderson before he kind of started trying to reinvent himself a little bit as he got older, beginning with Mr. Fox. In between he made Darjeeling, but I agree with you that is his weakest film, and the only one I really did not enjoy.

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel

2. Fantastic Mr. Fox

3. The Royal Tenenbaums

4. Isle of Dogs

5. Moonrise Kingdom

Nice to see you hold Isle of Dogs in such high esteem. I don't think I've seen anyone but a few critics rave about it, but I like how all of his films seem to eventually cultivate their individual followings.

 

[Kane52630]

Eh, I wouldn't say high esteem... It's #4 because I don't think his other films are that good.

Grand Budapest and Fantastic Mr. Fox are the two I love.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I'll see you and meet you with:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

You top 3 is identical to mine

Now I am in the mood to watch The Royal Tenenbaums, LOL!

 

[DACrowe]

And similarly, I've been meaning to rewatch Grand Budapest for months.

 

[JtheDreamer]

I watched a behind the scenes of this film. Tell you one thing - when I die I never want to come back as a stop motion animator. Talk about a lot of work.

 

[Drizzle]

I saw this today. I liked it, even though my theater was filled with toddlers because their hipster-ass parents brought them. I had no idea this was PG-13 until I bought my ticket and I guess they didn't either. Nevertheless there were a bunch of restless children running around because surprise surprise, Wes Anderson doesn't direct movies for kids. I mean, a small child could watch this or Fantastic Mr. Fox because they aren't exactly scary or inappropriate, but they would be bored as hell.

 

[redhawk23]

Saw this movie tonight and I have to say, not really feeling this one. While the movie finds a center with Chief and Atari, I was disappointed that half the characters get pretty well sidelined. I found the subplot with the foreign exchange student to be pretty dull and her character didn't add much to the movie.

The film's use of language is a hinderence I feel. Even if they were going to still have the Japanese character speak Japanese it probably would have been better to just have it be subbed rather than have a running Frances McDormand translation.

That said, the Japanese setting was pretty much arbitrary and the movie didn't do to much to explore or make use of it. Somehow for me it felt like Megasaki and Trash Island were less well sketched than, say New Penzance from Moonrise Kingdom.

While his overall aesthetic might seem like it would lead naturally to this kind of fussed over, stop motion world, there is some kind of energy that gets lost without a basis in live action for Anderson I feel, not sure what.

I did like the animation here a lot more than in Fantastic Mr. Fox. The animals were all surprisingly expressive.

I thought Bryan Cranston did a great job.

As for my final comment on the movie, please enjoy Three Billboards outside Megasaki City.

 

[redhawk23]

I saw it. It was pretty good. If you like Wes Anderson's style, which I do, it is kind of amusing to see it placed atop dogs. But that joke, which is already visible in the trailers and marketing, is about all there is. The story itself is pretty bleh to me. It is certainly one of his lesser works.

Which makes that 4 year gap between films really sting, I gotta say.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Didn't he and his partner have a child? I would assume a new little one took up a little bit of time. t: