Wes Anderson goes back to animation for his most recent film, “Isle of Dogs,” a fun and playful tale that only wavers because of its sheer amount of characters.
The last time Anderson worked with animation was for his 2009 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s book “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
With the use of stop-motion animation on both projects, it is clear that “Isle of Dogs” is stylistically similar to “Fantastic Mr. Fox;” however, “Isle of Dogs” has a much grander scale, utilizing more sets, backgrounds and characters.
Because “Isle of Dogs” comes from the quirky mind of Wes Anderson, the story has many moving parts, which makes for a complicated narrative.
The film, which is set in a dystopian Japan, tells the story of a group of dogs who are exiled to an island of trash off the coast of the fictional Megasaki City. It is because of an outbreak of dog flu that the city’s mayor, Kobayashi, decides that the dogs need to be taken away.
The first dog to be sent to this island is Spots (Liev Schreiber), who is the dog of Kobayashi’s nephew, Atari Kobayashi (Koyu Rankin).
This motivates Atari to go on a mission to bring his dog back. He flies to the isle of exiled dogs, and, in order to find Spots, he enlists the help of a group of alpha dogs: Chief (Bryan Cranston), Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss (Bill Murray) and Duke (Jeff Goldblum).
As the group carries along in search of Spots, Chief – who was the only stray dog of the bunch – struggles with the concept of man’s best friend.
Meanwhile in Megasaki City, it becomes clear that Mayor Kobayashi is deliberately avoiding the advancement of a cure for the dog flu. He would rather eradicate the dogs all together.
As these two stories begin to converge, the question of humankind’s relationship with our canine friends comes into play.
Like many of Wes Anderson’s films, “Isle of Dogs” has a very dry, deadpan sense of humor that contemplates idiosyncratic characters that take themselves too seriously.
At the center of all of his films, Anderson tells entertaining stories about goofy characters and their unique relationships with one another, and “Isle of Dogs” does not disappoint.
The place where “Isle of Dogs” gets overzealous is in the staggering amount of characters. The film reaches a point where it’s hard to focus on any one character as the protagonist. This ultimately makes the narrative weaker as it spreads it thin among the litany of storylines.
The film is also quite like a scavenger hunt of actors because it’s fun to recognize the voices of stars like Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Courtney B. Vance and many others.
Even though the narrative of “Isle of Dogs” felt too crowded at times, Wes Anderson has accomplished yet another film that uses humor and aesthetic to explore characters.