Isle of Dogs (2018)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: Another charming and quirky film from Wes Anderson, on the one hand 'Isle of Dogs,' is nothing we wouldn't have expected from this director, but on the other hand the stop-motion animation and the film's heady themes work to make it a truly stand-out and very engaging theatre experience. Yes for a start the world-building here is absolutely sublime as Anderson painstakingly builds an all-consuming atmosphere where the scale of animation allows him to build a surrounding work of art that's as quirky and detail-obsessed as he is. Layered on top of that is the exploration of some ideas around immigration, belonging and self which gives the film real impact, but what's so great about that is that's it's all done through the eyes of a wonderful character story where dogs represent the oppressed and outcast in an amusing turn of events that also unlocks lots of opportunities for some hilariously classy canine commentary. These characters are properly wonderful too, and their physical animation adds to their tangibility and charm, and all in all this makes for an engaging, charming and genuinely meaningful film that really sticks with you for days on end.
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The ending is far too dragged out, and the race politics have equally been a point of contention for many. It could be interpreted as flipping the roles for a western audience to imagine them as the ones cast out, or it could more cynically be seen as another example of where the westerners have to be the heroes and the others are the villains. In fact, I think it's neither of those things, and Anderson just wanted to build a world influenced by the beautiful intricacies of Japanese culture, but in doing so he has certainly fallen victim to heavy and insensitive stereotyping.
  VERDICT: A quirky, charming and beautifully-realised stop-motion animation, 'Isle of Dogs,' is also a film with a lot to say, even if it accidentally undermines itself in many ways.

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