Fantastic Mr Fox (Wes Anderson, George Clooney) : Movie Review
December 16, 2009 by Sean Lynch
Filed under Movie Reviews, Movies
Cult director Wes Anderson is back, this time with his first full length animated film, and taking on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book Fantastic Mr. Fox. As usual, it’s classic Wes Anderson…
Utilizing classic handmade stop-motion techniques (think old school Wind In The Willows) Anderson manages to tell the story of the best-selling children’s book by Roald Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach) and take it to a whole new level.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson (and strangely, Jarvis Cocker) and follows the tale of Mr. and Mrs. Fox (Clooney and Streep) who, after twelve years of quiet domesticity, decide to follow their wild animal instincts and slip back into their old ways as sneaky chicken thiefs.
Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox
WHAT’S THE BUZZ
I’ve yet to encounter a Wes Anderson film that I haven’t absolutely adored from the moment it began, and Fantastic Mr. Fox is no different.
Dahl’s classic tale (when are we going to get a BFG movie already?!) blends perfectly with Anderson’s unique brand of meloncholic whismy which is again flawlessly on display here, the inclusion of stop motion animation charm is simply a welcome bonus.
While probably not as emotionally penetrating, or wonderfully numbingly muted as The Life Aquatic or Darjeeling Limited (but, bear in mind, this is a children’s film), Fantastic Mr. Fox does bring something new to the overally familiar world and style of Anderson.
The animation style allows for an unexpected and new level of comedy to seep through, with the quick movements and timing unlike anything else on movie screens at the moment – even Aardmaan.
The cast is also great (although, as charming as he is, Clooney is surprisingly not as in sync with Anderson’s world as I thought he might be), with Jason Schwartzman supplying most of the laughs with his patented “Over-Intelligent, less charming than he thinks he is, arrogant loser” character, along with a stellar turn from Harry Potter’s Michael Gambon.
The visuals are again sublime and thankfully still manage to capture the essence of any other Anderson film, with the intricacies of the puppets captured on every frame a true work of art.
By no means Wes Anderson’s best work (but even an average Wes Anderson film is still miles ahead of the field), however it is wonderfully inventive and fresh – and most importantly – Fantastic Mr Fox is cuss-ing good fun.
WATCH OUT FOR
The very clever use of the word “Cuss” in lew of… well… any swear words whatsoever. It packs just as much punch as an actual swear… but is probably ten times as funny.
So there’s a lesson for all those relying on foul language!
WATCH OUT FOR | RATING : 4 / 5
