Movie Review: "Fantastic Mr. Fox"
By Christian Toto www.whatwouldtotowatch.com
You can swap out real people for puppets, but you can’t take the droll out of a Wes Anderson production.
The director of “Rushmore” and “The Darjeeling Limited” turns to a discarded movie-making technique - stop motion animation - to bring his latest film to life.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox,” based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl, seems like a creative departure for Anderson in every way.
Yet he suffuses his new film, opening today, with much of his trademark smirkery.
The sharp, sophisticated screenplay overpowers a simplistic story, leaving Anderson plenty of space to share his observations on family dynamics.
“Fox” casts George Clooney as Mr. Fox, a well intentioned guy who can’t stop stealing hens from the corporate farms near the hole in the ground he calls home.
That gets him in trouble with the Missus (voiced by Meryl Streep), who insists he stop his shenanigans when she becomes pregnant.
Three years later, we learn Mr. Fox can’t fight his nature. He still sneaks away from home to swipe stuff from his cold-hearted neighbors.
That puts his family in jeopardy, since one of the local business owners (voiced by the great Michael Gambon) decide to put an end to Mr. Fox’s thievery once and for all.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” doesn’t feel like a traditional children’s film, but there’s nothing here to shock the young-uns beyond a few conversations regarding existentialism.
These all too human foxes wrestle with issues we can all relate to, from striving for something better to the push and pull of modern marriage.
It’s all disassembled with briskly paced sequences and a script that never stops delivering clever lines. The vocal cast is spot on through and through, although Streep’s character isn’t as full bodied as the multiple Oscar winner deserves.
The film still feels slight at times, with the story structure coming off as too mechanical to match the inspired dialogue. The animation here is never as smooth as the CGI wonders Pixar routinely delivers, but the effect is disarming all the same.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” isn’t an animated classic, and some younger minds will be flummoxed by the deeper themes flitting across the screen. But the film proves an archaic animation technique can be just the ticket for an indie auteur looking for a fresh start.
You can swap out real people for puppets, but you can’t take the droll out of a Wes Anderson production.
The director of “Rushmore” and “The Darjeeling Limited” turns to a discarded movie-making technique - stop motion animation - to bring his latest film to life.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox,” based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl, seems like a creative departure for Anderson in every way.
Yet he suffuses his new film, opening today, with much of his trademark smirkery.
The sharp, sophisticated screenplay overpowers a simplistic story, leaving Anderson plenty of space to share his observations on family dynamics.
“Fox” casts George Clooney as Mr. Fox, a well intentioned guy who can’t stop stealing hens from the corporate farms near the hole in the ground he calls home.
That gets him in trouble with the Missus (voiced by Meryl Streep), who insists he stop his shenanigans when she becomes pregnant.
Three years later, we learn Mr. Fox can’t fight his nature. He still sneaks away from home to swipe stuff from his cold-hearted neighbors.
That puts his family in jeopardy, since one of the local business owners (voiced by the great Michael Gambon) decide to put an end to Mr. Fox’s thievery once and for all.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” doesn’t feel like a traditional children’s film, but there’s nothing here to shock the young-uns beyond a few conversations regarding existentialism.
These all too human foxes wrestle with issues we can all relate to, from striving for something better to the push and pull of modern marriage.
It’s all disassembled with briskly paced sequences and a script that never stops delivering clever lines. The vocal cast is spot on through and through, although Streep’s character isn’t as full bodied as the multiple Oscar winner deserves.
The film still feels slight at times, with the story structure coming off as too mechanical to match the inspired dialogue. The animation here is never as smooth as the CGI wonders Pixar routinely delivers, but the effect is disarming all the same.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” isn’t an animated classic, and some younger minds will be flummoxed by the deeper themes flitting across the screen. But the film proves an archaic animation technique can be just the ticket for an indie auteur looking for a fresh start.
posted by Ron Futrell at
10:13 PM
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