L'Île aux chiens

A timely political story. A very bad guy is in charge. He needs a scapegoat. Dogs are it. The dogs are all sent away to a kind of concentration camp. The dogs are just regular people-like dogs. They do need outside assistance. A good guy helps the dogs organize and overcome their oppressors and their human-like failings. It is beautifully told with characters and landscapes drawn from Japanese historical art style. The cast and the vivid landscapes are fabulous to see. And it is all believable.

I love directors bringing their vision and actually use the movie media as an artform. These directors Is a rarity today and I'm glad everytime something different Is made. As a movie lover all my life Ive seen every amazing move I can lay my hands on. But art Is In the eye of the beholder, each and every one have different tastes. I can appriciate the work behind Isle Of dogs. But that's where It stops. The movie Itself Is a slog to sit through, I lost interest several times, I didn't find It funny, gripping, or any emotions whatsoever throughout. It plays on the now very familiar Wes tropes. dogs walk to the left, dogs walk to the right. panorama from air etc. says something boring and that walks some more. I Just find the storytelling very uncompelling. It's just a mishmash that plays out as slapstick. dogs fighting robot dogs, boy got another metalpiece in brain.. wow, It's like how people love to praise Tarantino.. Also a director that makes the same boring movies over and over with only top grade actors. And.. you see why the movies then become a kind of what you expect, fanservice. It plays out in whatever fashion It wants. We all know even from the first minute the dogs are gonna make It. So the tention Is gone, Then again.. It's a movie about dogs.. There's countless of stopmotion, puppetry, claymation and anime movies that really pull on the heartstrings or make you care for the characters displayed onscreen, or even make you cry, or being astounded with how beautifully crafted they are.. But Isle of dogs did nothing for me even If I love the japanese food culture and their customs.. It just doesnt work here. I don't hate on Wes, I really love his earlier movies, But this wasn't my thing. I can't see what the raving reviews are all about. I watched It and I'm not gonna watch it twice. ever

We absolutely loved Isle of Dogs. All of your classic Wes Anderson tropes of lingering still shots, zany dialogue, and an outlandish take on underdogs (pun intended) rebelling against the system are present. The Japanese themes were artistically delivered as well as one could expect, and felt respectful to the culture. The quality is as good as Fantastic Mr Fox, though the heavy use of untranslated Japanese leaves the viewer somewhat emotionally estranged from human characters. Setting is modern Japan, where a dog flu epidemic has turned a city against its furry friends. The evil dog hating mayor has rounded up all dogs and exiled them to trash island, where they live in filth and suffering. Atari, the adopted son of the Mayor, flies a plane onto the island to rescue his dog. Hilarity and poignant moments ensue. Don't miss this one if you are a Wes Anderson fan, or simply want a great comedy. Certain scenes may bother kids below the age of 5. The subtle allegory on an evil leader stirring the pot against the most helpless in our society is timely and well wrought. There is a legitimate criticism on the "white savior" plot device that plagues nearly all Western movies based in Asia, and I hope future directors take heed.

I really enjoyed this wonderful little film that was such a departure in a way for director Wes Anderson, yet his style is still readily obvious. I saw this at a midnight showing and I can tell you, everyone walking out of the theater was raving and talking about how great it was, And it was, such a charming a cute adventure of a story that was a total surprise, in the sense of a surprise to see Anderson making an animated film. I was so exited for the film and it really was in no way a disappointment, I thoroughly enjoyed his latest work, in fact, I might go see it twice, which is rare for me. In the second paragraph I will discuss a little more about what exactly I liked about it, but in general this was a damn good film that demands a viewing. Wes Anderson's style is so honed in this film despite it being animated. The use of colors and symmetry are still plainly obvious, the color and design of things very consistent giving a believable world for the film to be set in. Each one of the characters was deeply developed and fascinating while also working off many of the other characters. The writing is sharp, intelligent, and very well written in the style of many of the other Anderson classics. So basically if you are a fan of his style, then you will be delighted to see this movie that is the personification of Wes Anderson's style.

I have to go against all of the voices who are praising this film. I found the film relied way too much on stereotypical jokes. It wasn't at all respectful to the Japanese and it definitely wasn't an homage to anything related to that culture. Haiku jokes, samurai references everywhere, people dressing and acting like they're from WW2 imperial Japan, sumo wrestlers, the list goes on. When someone speaks Japanese, because they're using yelling talk without any subtitles, and that's supposed to be 'funny'. Most of the jokes in the movie would not work if it was set in, say, the US. And if this backward looking Japanese city set in the future was so Japanese centric (no english signs anywhere), why are their dogs named 'Spots', 'Chief', 'King'?! Some earlier reviews have complained that the movie was 'whitewashing', by placing the english-speaking actors names at the top, and the japanese at the bottom. I don't find that offensive, since it is a hollywood movie, and the voices are of well-known hollywood actors. It doesn't make sense to put a lesser known actor at the top, regardless of their ethnic background. It's just a shame that culturally-specific jokes are still acceptable today. Come on, Hollywood, I thought you were supposed to be progressive, and all this metoo stuff. I'm just thankful they didn't have a godzilla or a scene of harakiri in the movie. Unfortunately, I can't really comment much on the story itself. Was it interesting? Not really. Were the characters enjoyable? They were okay. But overall, the stereotypes depicting the Japanese culture and people ruined the enjoyment of the film.

Another highlight in Wes Anderson's filmography. And honestly his best film since "The Royal Tenenbaums". A wonderful and inspired animation comedy that lives from the typical Wes Anderson wit. The stop motion was perfect and it was created with many beautiful details. The voice performances were pitch perfect and the right actors were chosen. Bryan Cranston was terrific and so was Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Greta Gerwig, Jeff Goldblum and Tilda Swinton (tho her character deserved way more screen time. The soundtrack was fantastic, especially the score was perfectly created. The screenplay is among Wes Anderson's best work to date. I loved the editing and general look of it. There are nice and funny twists throughout the whole film. And in the end it has an important message to tell. Its a winner film and I am sure it will make its mark at the box office, with the critics and also at next years Oscars (especially in the best animation feature category). I already loved "Fantastic Mr. Fox" but with "Isles of Dogs" Anderson was able to top it. Highly recommended.