Wes Anderson is a polarizing director. He's one of the few I'd say you either love him or hate him. His style of directing, his dialogue and his humor in general are tailored to those who understand his work. Even when he's gone "mainstream" with wide-released films like Fantastic Mr. Fox, there's still the Wes Anderson machine at work. Every actor is deadpan, spouting lines of dry humor within a very symmetrically shaped scene frame. I personally love it. I find most of his movies to be original pieces of work that bring happiness and joy to me as a movie-goer while dealing with real-life complicated issues. They're "fantastical" without being expensive. He uses a vast array of colors and set pieces that could fill a museum. His imagination is that of a Del Toro, only instead of using it for darkness, he uses it for quirk. My first experience with Wes Anderson was The Life Aquatic and then The Darjeeling Limited. Both of these films are generally relegated to the bottom of his filmography totem, but they're still my favorites because they're the ones that got me to love Anderson as a filmmaker. His brand of humor is unique and it's a nice change of pace to see a "different" comedy that makes me laugh and giggle and grin as much as a low-brow comedy can. And what's crazy-- he keeps getting better. The dude finally earned his first Oscar noms with The Grand Budapest Hotel, and in my opinion, Isle of Dogs is one the best movies he's ever made. The movie is elevated past some of his most iconic works on pure whimsy alone. I loved every second of it.
Set in Japan, an outbreak of "dog flu" has forced cat-loving/dog-hating Mayor Kobayashi to exile all dogs to Trash Island. There, a pack of dogs roam the island battling other factions of dogs for bags of trash. The dogs include Rex (Edward Norton), Boss (Bill Murray), Duke (Jeff Goldblum), King (Bob Balaban), and Chief (Bryan Cranston). All, except Chief, have been taken from their masters and forced to adapt to the lives of trash-dwelling strays. Chief, on the other hand, is a stray from very young and the leader of the pack-- due to his inclination to fight for what he wants (which is mostly, again, just bags of trash). A young boy, Atari, crash lands his little plane on the island in search of his lost dog Spots (Liev Schreiber). The pack band together to help young Atari locate his dog. The B story of this tale involves an American foreign exchange student, Tracy (Greta Gerwig) bringing to light a cure for dog flu that has been covered up by the Mayor in an attempt to keep dogs out of Japan. The adventure these characters go on is so fun and whimsical and seriously creative that it's hard not to sit there with a big dumbass grin on your face and giggle.
Isle of Dogs works in almost every way a movie can work and then some. Every single risk Anderson takes pays off. Starting with the idea of going with stop-motion again. The attention to detail Anderson takes, coupled with his unique style of filming and cinematography only enhances the gorgeous world (that just so happens to take place on an island of literal pieces of trash). The dogs are all meticulously constructed and animated, you forget you're watching figurines. Their eyes are vulnerable, their noses wet, their fur blowing in the wind-- it's almost more impressive to see than some of the best CGI we've seen in recent memory. All of these dogs are quirky and fun. Even the hard-nosed Chief, who is a self-proclaimed biter, is a lovable enough character that it's fun to watch his rough exterior change (even quite literally in one scene) to softened lovable pup. You can tell by watching this movie that Anderson really does have an affinity for canines.
The movie is also very funny. Wes Anderson, who looks like one of those dudes who lurks in the shadows of a Starbucks with his laptop, doesn't strike you as a guy with that great of a sense of humor. But he is. He's getting funnier too. His dry sense of humor, coupled with witty dialogue makes this movie humorous as well as charming. It's a love letter to dogs, with an adorable story at the forefront that reminds me why I started loving Wes Anderson in the first place. All of the voice actors fit in perfectly with his style and the deadpan delivery of lines mixed with the cuteness of the dogs somehow works-- even when it seems like it wouldn't. I'm really, really hoping this movie gets the attention that it deserves.
You know those white people who are just obsessed with other cultures? A lot of times it's nerdy white dudes who just love Asian cultures-- this comes across very clearly with Wes Anderson. You can tell he has an affinity for all things Japanese. Along with hiring Japanese writer Kunichi Nomura to help make sure every detail was presented accurately, I love the fact that Anderson took the time to do so. All of the Japanese characters speak Japanese and while we do get some of the translations, a lot of the time we don't. And we don't need to. The dogs don't need to understand Atari's language to know that he's hurting for the loss of his dog and will do anything to find him. Is this cultural misappropriation? Maybe? I think there's a strong argument on both sides. Is there an inherent reason this movie needed to be set in Japan? No, probably not. But, I respect the fact that Anderson didn't just throw in his white-perception of Japan and actually took the measures to make sure everything was presented accurately and respectfully.
Keep in mind, parents with small children, even though this movie is animated and it's about talking animals-- it's not exactly a kids movie. There are some rough fights, some scarred up characters, a little bit of language and themes that children aren't going to understand (hence the PG-13 rating). There's no goofy singing and dancing and loud, outlandish dog characters there to entice children. It's a Wes Anderson movie. Had this movie been about people, the script would only need to change the species of its characters. It's not his attempt at a family film. But it is a well-executed, incredibly charming, overwhelmingly whimsical, dreadfully funny film that will melt the hearts of dog lovers everywhere. I loved this movie and even after just a single viewing, I can tell you that this film quickly encroaching the top of Anderson's filmography totem-- at least to me.
A
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