How can anyone say anything negative about Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox? The movie has such a powerful shield of 'adorable-ness' speaking critically could be the equivalent to walking inside a lions den with Wes Anderson fans after saying The Life Aquatic sucked. No one would dare comment on the length of this seemingly endless stop-motion epic. The familiar "Anderson plot" is haphazardly translated from the classic Roald Dahl book into a semi-cohesive story. Coming from someone who may not fit into the demographic for Fantastic Mr. Fox, the movie isn't terrible. Fantastic Mr. Fox is good, but the disclaimer that should follow would be, "if you are a Wes Anderson fan." Sorry, Anderson-followers, but if anything good can be said about this long slog of a movie is that it is easily recommendable to you people and children who just don't know any better.
I didn't even intend on seeing this movie had it not been for the puppy-dog eyes of a certain girlfriend and inspired concept/design of Madame Tutli-Putli. For contextual reasons, you should know that I haven't liked a Wes Anderson movie since The Royal Tenebaums. This is not because of my deep aversion to the hipster culture [which I have] or that Anderson is not capable to deal with this story as a writer/director [which I thought he would be]. I am just exhausted with this style of story telling. There are some movies that I can not get out of bed for, no matter the director. Gran Torino, Be Kind Rewind and Deathproof are very well thought out and technically proficient movies, but if I feel a director is "only" adapting their style to a story; then yes I will wholeheartedly find a movie like Fantastic Mr. Fox bland as un-sugared oatmeal.
Damn if it isn't adorable. Technically, this movie is a visual triumph in the stop motion animation genre. If this crew of animators would like to get together on a project not involving an "Anderson plot" -- then my ticket has already been proactively purchased. The fur and hair movements and attention to every kind of detail -- down to Nathan Bunce's cider jars. The little looks of Petey the weasel. The one shot in the opening of the movie where Mr. and Mrs. Fox realized they had to 'grow up'. I feel in a great deal of stop-motion animation titles, the director and set designers first order of business is figuring out how to "trick" the audience into thinking this set-the-size-of-a-shoebox is a living, breathing world. Mission accomplished Wes.
In movies of this caliber, I feel typically feel bad for actual voice actors. They bust their humps on commercials I easily turn down. They earn livings on children networks and if lucky enough, score a sweet gig on a popular cartoon. I wasn't disappointed with George Clooney's performance nor was the case with Meryl Streep. At no point in this movie was I able to imagine these "animated characters" as they were. The supporting cast was a different story, where if you couldn't quite peg who the actual actor was, then the animated character shined through. These moments work best, because you are not imagining William Defoe [who was phenomenal] read lines as a Louisiana guard rat, no, Defoe, is the rat. Wow...can't believe I just typed that. I know it seems a little Theater 101, but as a minor gripe, casting Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman shouldn't have been paramount to the fleshing out of this very Wes Anderson-like cast.
The biggest issue with Fantastic Mr. Fox is not the predictable casting. It isn't even the irksome soundtrack, which I am sure plenty of plaid-wearing men and neon legging women are listening to. Fantastic Mr. Fox suffers from bloat. The same kind of bloat seen in The Darjeeling Limited and the latter half of The Life Aquatic. These bloated scenes consist of the most expository, dry dialogue in which Mr. Fox and son throughly [and at times abstractly] explain why conformity shouldn't be a part of any four-limbed creatures daily habits. "Babe, I'm just trying to find myself." This is an actual line from the movie.
Overall, I begrudgingly recommend Fantastic Mr. Fox to my art friends out there. Its a clear no-brainer for Wes Anderson fans, but those of you who like well-paced movies that are light on pretension, you can wait on this feature. There are dance sequences and moments when these anthropomorphized avatars behave like their natural animal characteristics ... those moments are hilarious. It is unfortunate that the movie 'feels long' enough to want to root for these fantastic animals to be put down.
I Give Fantastic Mr. Fox...
The "Poop In Humorously Large Sock" Award