Written by Briah Krueger
The master of aesthetic has delivered again; Wes Anderson’s newest film Isle of Dogs (2018) presents us with a stunning, extreme attention to detail, and thrilling world of animation; and accompanied by, but of course, Anderson’s creative and unmistakable narrative.
Isle of Dogs takes place in Japan, where our young hero Atari Kobayashi embarks (em-barks, bark, dog’s bark—pretty funny) on a brave journey to rescue his beloved dog Spots. He journeys to Trash Island, which is a literal wasteland filled with garbage that all dogs have been banished to since a breakout of an apparent ‘Dog Flu’. While on his quest to find Spots he meets our main characters: (as shown above) Boss, Rex, King, Duke, and Chief (not shown).
With familiar voices, often featured in Anderson’s films (such as Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum, and many more), to bring these new and lovable characters to life, we tag along in this epic and dramatic feud between the Pro-Dog and Anti-Dog citizens of Japan.
Though the plot is in no doubt completely different and intriguing, we miss the little bits of character depth we are used to seeing in Anderson’s past films. Perhaps the focus on the films animation, which is absolutely impressive and exquisite; featuring everything to the glisten and small motions in a character’s eyes to the movement of their fur or hair, the attention to detail is quite amazing and greatly appreciated, but may have stolen a bit from our connection to the actual story.
I am not too knowledgeable on Japanese culture so it wouldn’t be fair to judge how well Anderson portrayed Japan (and my sincerest apologies if Japanese culture was wrongly represented). Along with that we also feel a little disconnected with the language barrier and lack of subtitles when it comes to some of the dialogue. Then again, this could have been the direction Anderson was going for; having us rely on reading body language and the situations at hand at the times during the film when we aren’t aware what the characters are saying in Japanese. But I can say that the work and passion put into the stop animation and the well matched soundtrack was done well and with Anderson’s famous charm and clever humour we dearly missed.
Overall this movie is filled with heart, action, humour, and of course—dogs. We give Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs an 8/10, and we’re happy to see him back in action since his last award-winning movie The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Whether you’re a dog lover, a Wes Anderson junkie, or just looking for a movie to give a try to you just so happen to enjoy canine related conflict in a Japanese setting, Isle of Dogs is a movie you ought to try.
