What do you think of when you hear Wes Anderson's name? Meticulously symmetrical cinematography? Grotesquely saturated colour palettes? Dysfunctional familial themes? An exclusively 60's and 70's pop soundtrack? From his debut, Rushmore to Fantastic Mr Fox, the Academy Award-winning Grand Budapest Hotel to even his 2016 H&M Christmas advert, Anderson's influence on Hollywood and filmmaking has been palpable over the last decade. So now comes his second stop motion animated Film after his acclaimed adaptation of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox, Isle of Dogs.
Great storyline
In a dystopian Japan, dogs have been banished to the titular location due to an outbreak of "dog flu". Following five dogs Rex (Edward Norton), Boss (Bill Murray), Duke (Jeff Goldblum), King (Bob Balaban) and Chief (Bryan Cranston), they're thrust into a quirky quest when the mayor's son, Atari Kobayashi, arrives on the island searching for his beloved dog, Spots. As the Japanese government pursue Atari and try to bring him back home, the dogs must protect him from the ensuing danger while on the search for man's best friend.
The hallmarks of Anderson's previous works are ever present, and as expected, the premise is as intriguingly bizarre as ever. Anderson has taken a story which shouldn't work and has turned it into an action-packed adventure with a mix of seriousness and his trademark surreal humour.
It frankly amazed me how much was established in two minutes without diving into spoiler territory or talking down to the audience.
Anderson's stop motion is an art form
The animation is top-notch and could be almost to the point of photorealistic. With no signs of CGI to be found, the effort from the animators shows in every single frame.
It makes you appreciate the time and hard work spent into creating the world in comparison to the mainstream CGI animated films dominating cinemas. Arguably larger in scale compared to Fantastic Mr Fox, the mix of the caricatured and realistic character designs along with the Japanese influenced setting and sweeping camera angles create its own unique style.
You immediately know from frame one it's Wes Anderson, and he has shown why stop motion is an art form which mustn't fade from the public eye.
Great cast
If the animation or Anderson's name won't convince you to see this movie, then the stellar cast certainly will. On top of Edward Norton, Bill Murray and Bryan Cranston, there's also Scarlett Johansson (reuniting with Murray after 2003's Lost in Translation), Tilda Swinton, Ken Watanabe, Liev Schreiber, Yoko Ono and Frances McDormand joining the proceedings. As much as it's strange not seeing Jason Schwartzman or Owen Wilson in the cast list, you'll be reassured to know that Schwartzman was involved with developing the story along with Roman Coppola.
Isle Of Dogs will be released on March 23, 2018.
