Isle Of Dogs

The plight of the auteur can be a tricky one indeed. Keeping to noticeable stylistic traits whilst introducing new ideas and avoiding diminishing returns and fan pressure.

Wes Anderson’s dedication to working within his set parameters is something to be truly admired. That he is yet to release anything which has fallen below his high standards and worked across genres and audiences in doing so is startling.

His ninth directorial feature: Isle Of Dogs returns him to the stop motion animation style of Fantastic Mr Fox and is an absolute treat, sitting squarely in the middle of his oeuvre by being not solely for adults or children, not solely a comedy or any other genre. It’s wholly unique and stands out in the current market.

The plot could take a whole review to describe but, in short; a future Mayor of fictional Megasaki City, Japan has banished all dogs to an island off the coast. His ward Atari travels to the island to find his dog Spots and joins a ragtag bunch of exiled dogs on his quest.

The plot points from here are classically Anderson-esque and things duck, dive and dodge to a satisfying, fairy-tale conclusion. It whisks you along on a visual adventure which dazzles with every shot put to screen. Anderson’s trademark visual pizazz is to the fore and his imagination is able to run riot with the stop motion styling. There’s some truly stunning scenery and the dogs are wonderfully designed, each with individual traits and iconography. The traditional Japanese nods, too, are beautiful with a sushi-making scene in particular being a joy to watch.

The voice work, as has been widely reported, is marvellous with some recurrent Anderson actors at play; Edward Norton, Frances McDormand and Bill Murray are all present and correct. Some get a little lost in the mix, perhaps to be expected with the wide range of A-listers on show, but Bryan Cranston as ‘lead’ character Chief is the MVP; initially Heisenberg-like as a stray who ‘bites’ before settling into more dulcet tones as his character progresses.

The human characters fare less well, unfortunately. The aforementioned Atari isn’t hugely likable with only Tracy, a pro-dog exchange student, making any real impact. This could be an intentional move though; Anderson smartly keeps most of the Japanese voices untranslated, which actually relates the audience more to the canine characters (whose barks, he notes in an early title card, have been “translated into English.”)

It’s another classic notch on Anderson’s belt and perhaps his most original plot and story. Despite looking like it, it’s not quite as user friendly as The Grand Budapest Hotel and not quite as funny as Moonrise Kingdom but another auteurist beauty from one of our greatest living Directors.

4 stars ****