Movie Reviews

Year: 2018

Genre: Animated Comedy

Directed: Wes Anderson

Stars: Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Kunichi Nomura, Akira Takayama, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Akira Ito, Liev Schreiber, Courtney B. Vance,  Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Yoko Ono, Tilda Swinton, Ken Watanabe

Production: Indian Paintbrush

Decades of fan worship and a reliable ability to make a modest profit has cultivated a well-manicured brand for director Wes Anderson. His trademark, storybook framing, first perfected in his debut Bottle Rocket (1996), has since – like a Christmas tree – become only more ornate over time. His films now host incredibly large named casts, clever references to classic film and literature, an eye for color theory and architecture, mounds of exposition told via droll wit and a pedigreed ear for melancholy musical cues.

Thus for some, Isle of Dogs may be a bit of a letdown. Don’t get me wrong, the film exhibits all the usual Anderson-isms we’ve come to know and love. But unlike, say The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) or Moonrise Kingdom (2012) which are great but often times feel like lavish victory laps, Isle of Dogs seems to want achieve a different end. It actually seems to want to engage the audience in an emotional level as opposed to a strictly intellectual one. The results are largely delightful but sometimes create narrative discord.

Allow me to explain:

The plot takes place in Japan, twenty years in the future. Mayor Kobayashi (Nomura) the despotic, dog-hating leader of Megasaki City, has banished all dogs to a far away trash island. In a fit of anger the mayor’s 12-year-old nephew and ward, Atari (Rankin) hijacks a small plane and travels to the island in search of his old dog Spot (Schreiber). He’s aided in his quest by a pack of former pets, and one stray played by Cranston…who bites. Meanwhile back on the mainland, a group of students led by American exchange student, Tracy Walker (Gerwig) try to uncover the truth behind the dog flu outbreak that led to quarantine and banishment.

Now despite a lot of bells and whistles, the conflict of Isle of Dogs is pretty easy to follow. A rag-tag group of friends face off against technologically superior villains who think they know best but are really conniving, power-hungry hypocrites. The plot then engages the audience via a series of near-captures and hijinks culminating in a “let’s-get-them-where-they-live” climax that ends in a heartfelt speech (or in this case a haiku).

Anderson and his creative team have worked with this particular mold in the similar Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), which also employed serene and sophisticated stop-motion animation. But unlike Fantastic Mr. Fox, Isle of Dogs has a lot more emotion at its core due largely to its boy-and-his-dog narrative. You want Atari to be reunited with Spot; in fact, you want to see all the other dogs reunited with their humans. Thus there’s just naturally more emotional charge in the exchange of a snappy snack than can ever be gained by Mr. Fox indulging in his wildest natures.

The language barrier (most of the human characters speak Japanese while the dogs speak English), rather than being a hindrance actually becomes an asset. Instead of concentrating on the nuances of language and dialogue, the audience is forced to really observe facial expressions, body-language and voice inflection. Moreover there are a number of symbols and visual cues that strengthen the inner desires of characters and bonds between them, and do a much better job showing affection, loyalty, anger etc. than mere words ever could.

The only time it really becomes a liability is when Anderson’s gut instincts for homage get in the way of the practicalities of the story. Rather than settling for straightforward close-ups to gleam character faces, Anderson opts for showy DePalma-esque money-shots and medium shots that only feel tentatively motivated and do little to further the plot. His also often borrows the frame-within-a-frame construct which works for a while but becomes an obvious last-act stumble, where before it did a lot to create a unique sense of whimsy.

Narratively there’s also the minor issue of Tracy, who under the right lens typifies the deservedly maligned white-savior trope. Given that she almost needed to speak English for the sake of a solid B-story, I’m inclined to forgive this, but on the other hand there are a myriad of other ways to making this part of the movie work and they went with something wordy, ashen and childlike…in other words: boilerplate Anderson.

That said Anderson’s mastery of the deep focus works incredibly well during the lighter moments. Rather than being intimating and out of balance a la Citizen Kane (1941), Cinematographer Tristan Oliver makes sure that his frames always allow for total emersion. It’s playful, fun and sure to incite laughter even if you’re often times not sure why. Moreover when deep focus is not utilized, it’s obvious, it’s jarring and it serves a purpose. Nowhere does this work better than when characters like Chief (Cranston) suddenly see their goals figuratively and literally out of focus.

Of course it helps that Isle of Dogs has a brilliant voice cast. Among the core group, Cranston, Edward Norton and Jeff Goldblum are immediate standouts with Goldblum possibly replacing “life, ah, finds a way” with “You know, I heard a rumor…” as my new favorite catchphrase of his. Scarlett Johansson and F. Murray Abraham also make the most out of their parts as coquetteish love interest and de facto narrator respectively. Also, if you ever wanted to know what Tilda Swinton’s voice sounds like coming out of a pug, you’ll know during the course of this movie and it’s just as funny as it sounds.

Isle of Dogs is a rare breed indeed. For while there are some obvious stumbling blocks, it may very well mark a turning point for a director who is the closest thing to a cult of personality in films nowadays. I’m not sure if fans of the usual, ornate, quasi-intellectual filigree will see it my way. They may very well see Isle of Dogs as his weakest film (his weakest is still Royal Tenenbaums; f**king fight me). Regardless, there’s something much more beguiling on the screen this time around. It’s fun to see a master ebbing into something new even if that means the possibility of falling flat on their face. I’m excited to see what Anderson will do next.

Final Grade: B