Review of Isle of Dogs

****1/2 out of five stars

Available on video

by Walter G. Tarrow

Wes Anderson (Rushmore, Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox), the director of the exquisitely, elaborately detailed stop motion animated feature Isle of Dogs, reminds me, from observing his movies, through his body of work, of that quiet, fastidious, prissy kid who was the target of bullies throughout his childhood.

I imagine him in drama club finding purpose and joy in creating spectacular set pieces, feasts for the eyes, that the school troglodytes promptly stomped into rubble. That said, Isle of Dogs will not appeal to deplorables with its lack of the required heavy handed, simplistically plotted, car chases and ‘splosions that dominate the landscape of modern American movies.

Rather, Isle of Dogs is a complex, deeply rich, journey through a Japanesque fantasy of cats and dogs and their peoples, with fully fleshed out canine and human characters, amid themes of prejudice, conspiracy, corporate and political corruption, and justice and family. And at its core, it’s a story of a boy and his dog.

Told very respectfully in a Japanese style, the film is subversively clever in its appreciation for, and tongue firmly in cheek attitude toward, the past, present and future culture of Japan. There are titles, subtitles and signs in Japanese throughout, and the translations of these are handled with wit and winks using voice actors (in particular, Frances McDormand, of Fargo and Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, stands out as the chief translator). *And all barks have been rendered into English*

After a prologue establishing the why and how the Kobayashi clan came to hate, and, once in power, banish all dogs to Trash Island, taiko drummers perform over the opening credits of such actors as Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel and Jeff Goldblum lending their voice talents as the dogs.

With a gorgeous display of an amazingly and painstakingly animated reality, Anderson follows the adopted son of the mayor of Megasaki on his quest to find and rescue his dog Spots from Trash Island. Accompanied by a pack of dogs, he uncovers covert animal testing facilities and helps the dogs thwart a plot to exterminate them, and ultimately gain their freedom.

As was the case with Fantastic Mr. Fox and most of his movies, Anderson’s talents are in the details, the kind of nitpicking details that will be overlooked by most, that the typical movie watcher might find tedious and pretentious, and will be relished by those, such as myself, who will rewatch Isle of Dogs numerous times to admire the minute precisions of his tiny machinations.

Jack “the Joker” Nicholson’s line, spoken with wonder and admiration, in Batman, “Where does he get all those wonderful toys?” comes to mind. How does writer and director Anderson envision and execute such glorious and wondrous scenes to such extent?

Occasionally bullied by critics with the slight of making films that value style over substance, Anderson continues to create worlds that are visual treasures to be viewed with the eyes of children waking up on Christmas morning to see the presents under the tree. And, mark my words, come Oscar time next year, Isle of Dogs will definitely get a nod.