Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Posted by Dasha Kotova on November 28, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Wes Anderson’s latest feature, Fantastic Mr. Fox, is simultaneously silly, surreal, and contemplative, making an artful turn of his signature style. It appears that a great deal of effort went into the making of this stop-motion adaptation of the Roald Dahl book, and the impression it leaves makes it worthwhile. It also offers a welcome, hilarious break from the slick look and perfunctory humour of modern popular animated films.
The story centers on a family of foxes – former bird thieves Mr. and Mrs. Fox (George Clooney and Meryl Streep) have settled into a quiet life after the birth of their son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman). Although Mr. Fox had promised his wife to stop the illegal antics of their youth in order to keep their child safe, he still itches for the thrill of stealing birds from the nearby farms. At one point, he just can’t take the monotony of his day job, and so he sets out to deplete the vast resources of three local farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. Mr. Fox, being the sort of overconfident type that has a hard time being rational, figures he can pull it off without any serious consequences, but he ends up putting his family, and an entire squad of other animals in serious danger. Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson also contributed their voices to the film as the various animals that the Foxes encounter. Personality quirks and wacky pastimes are abound among these characters.
Visually, Fantastic Mr. Fox a work of art; everything from the character and set designs to the lighting made it entrancing to watch. Wes Anderson’s affinity for bright colours is livelier in this stop-motion animation medium than it has ever been in a “real life” setting. I usually can’t help but obsess over a movie’s moral side and analyze the characters’ decisions, but Fantastic Mr. Fox offered so many awesome things, colours, and textures to watch that it often distracted me, letting that part of my brain have a pleasant rest for once. It’s a real journey for the eyes, and it’s impossible to take a good look at everything within a single viewing.
Fantastic Mr. Fox often feels like a wild adventure that kids can enjoy, though it is much heavier than the majority of today’s family movies. The tone in which the characters’ relationships are explored is mature and ambivalent, and the pacing of the story is not entirely straight-forward. No one can predict what a given child could find funny, since kids’ minds are as complex as anybody’s; I can just say that the dry and subtle wit in this film is very much unlike the light, often superficial and stereotypical humour you see in recent children’s films. Fantastic Mr. Fox can definitely be enjoyed by families, as long as they don’t mistakenly believe that it’s anything like a DreamWorks animation. It was strange, watching this movie right after seeing a bunch of cheesy, awkward trailers for How to Train Your Dragon and Despicable Me, where the line “You’ve got the be kidding me” is presented as a valid joke. I’m sure that Fantastic Mr. Fox could provide a healthy alternative that young minds would benefit from.
There is much for the attention of the adult audiences in this film as well. If you’re annoyed by or tired of Wes Anderson’s intentionally quirky style, you might still enjoy it. Cute animal puppets adapting his tone make quite a different impression from real human faces struggling to maintain detached expressions as they engage in their deliberately peculiar activities. And if you’re always up for a Wes Anderson movie, well, then you can’t go wrong with this one. I did not grow up in an English-speaking culture, so I can’t tell how faithful the film is to the Roald Dahl book it’s based on, or how much of the author’s spirit is present in it. Some of Anderson’s most common themes are definitely, such a family faced with the possibility of falling apart, or an eccentric male central character trying to maintain a semblance of authenticity and control. His style is very much apparent in every second of the movie, but it’s presented from a more fresh perspective.
The soundtrack to this movie was at times a little distracting– it had some of that director-showing-you-his-super-cool-playlist feeling that has been plaguing many otherwise lovely films for the past decade. However, the score composed by Alexandre Desplat fit the film wonderfully; it should have accompanied the whole thing, without those Rolling Stones and Beach Boys songs popping up inexplicably. Also, a tune written by Jarvis Cocker especially for the movie, and performed by one of the characters, made one of the best and funniest scenes.
The movie’s few flaws somehow manage to be forgivable, including the fact that it leaves quite a few questions unanswered. Some of these questions are purely logical – How do the animals survive their contact with a deadly electric fence? Where does the excess ground go when they dig? – and others have to do with the way their relationships develop. The most baffling aspect of all was the fact that some animals in this film are sentient and self-aware, whereas others are not. Evolutions seems to have progressed very strangely way in that world. Still, this only pops out once you have a moment to think about it (or if you’re an anthropology student), and it doesn’t spoil the fun in the least. Perhaps the movie’s general surreal quality makes these things blend with the delirious feeling instead of making it difficult for you to suspend your disbelief.
Aside from a couple of minor inconsistencies, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon for anyone who wants to enjoy wit and wackiness along with an exploration of family and friendship dynamics. A wide range of moviegoers can delight in its creativity and hilarity, appreciate the effort it took to put together the beautiful settings, or just enjoy an adventure featuring a group of adorable, eccentric animals. Even if you’re tired of the whole quirky-film aesthetic, you might just feel differently about it in this particular case.
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