Title: Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman
Directed By: Wes Anderson
Roald Dahl's whimsical story of a sly thief fox comes to life courtesy of director Wes Anderson and some airy performances by George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman and others.
What needs to be mentioned first when reviewing this film, I think, is its tone. While it isn't exactly "kid unfriendly", it isn't really aimed at smaller children either. It's clever and relatively all-ages enough, but I fear that smaller children might get bored while watching this. After all, it isn't the bright animation they're used to. This is a very methodical form of stop motion animation and art direction that is truly beautiful, if sometimes a bit dark and choppy.
That being said, I absolutely loved the feel of this film. It's an adult successor to The Nightmare Before Christmas without the Tim Burton goth overtones. Replace black with oranges and browns and other sepia-style tones and your halfway there. The humor is a little more broad as well, with a LOT more attention paid making sure there were some jokes in there for the adults in the audience.
With a charm all its own and a broad message of cooperation and teamwork, this movie kinda stole my heart. I got caught up in it. I hope you'll give it a chance, and then get caught up too. Recommended.
Score: 8/10
I liked it a lot, too. This was actually the first movie that I've seen by Wes Anderson, with a couple more of his well knowns on the plate eventually.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I LOVE the feel. I was amazed to see the stop-motion animation because I feel that it's a lost art. It's a nice throwback to my childhood with old re-runs of Gumby and Pokey, as well as the ubiquitous California Raisins. The humor was spot on.
Hot Box! This moving is so great and it makes you just feel wonderful afterwards. You weight lighter than a slice of bread.
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