Fantastic Mr. Fox (November 25, 2009)

This is a stop motion animated film directed by Wes Anderson and based on Roald Dahl's 1970 children's novel of the same name. The story is about a fox who steals food at night from three mean and wealthy farmers. They are fed up with Mr. Fox's theft and try to kill him by digging their way into the foxes' home. However, the animals are able to outwit the farmers and live underground. Its style is fantastic. It has such a cozy and vintage feel with impeccably detailed figures that have charmingly doll-like movements that are both lively and a bit silly. The shot composition and tone, however, is very indicative of Wes Anderson’s iconic style. Many symmetrical and profile shots, zooms, pans, direct and clear lines of dialogue, characters with father issues, an ending dance sequence, among other tells. I am not a particular fan of his films in general, but I admire him for being authentic and deliberate. He is confident in what he does best and thus the audience always knows what they are going to get with him. His movies are always artfully done masterpieces, pleasing to the eyes and the ears (the soundtrack to this movie is folksy and delightful). Having said this, I do have problems with this particular film’s plot. It is excruciatingly slow for the majority of its runtime, so much so I am continually confused as to where it is headed. It does become exponentially more enjoyable once direct confrontations between the titular Mr. Fox and his rivals farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. The characters are interesting and on the whole amusing, with my favorites being Mr. Fox and his wife Felicity Fox. Through, throughout the film am also puzzled by the happenings of Ash Fox, Mr. Fox’s son. It could be that I got distracted but during the film I missed the reason behind his sour mood and animosity towards another Fox, Felicity’s nephew Kristofferson Silverfox. Apparently, he felt inferior to his cousin and jealous of his instant popularity, but I felt this side plot distracted from the main action and simply was not fun to watch. Ash does eventually reconcile with his cousin, but this seems like an afterthought. Besides him Clive Badger, Mr. Fox’s friends and partner in crime was odd but likable while Rat, a security guard for the Bean’s cellar and other major antagonist was very odd and creepy (I suppose he fit his role well as I felt little sympathy for him!) Lastly, the voice acting was superb with standout performances from George Clooney and Bill Murray, who voice Mr. Fox and Clive Badger, respectively. Overall, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a beautifully animated and crafted film, with and interesting world and inhabitants. Its plot can drag at times and seemingly deviate from the main point but once it gets going it is a fun and witty romp that I recommend people check out if they have the chance.

Final Rating 7.5/10