Fantastic Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009)

THE SCOOP
Director: Wes Anderson
Plot: Angry farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with a sly fox, look to get rid of their opponent and his family.

Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy/Family
Awards: Nom. for 2 Oscars - best animated feature, original score.
Runtime: 87min
Rating: PG for action, smoking and slang humor.

IN RETROSPECT
Fantastic Mr. Fox is easily the best animated feature of 2009. It should be rewarded with an Oscar nomination (and is every bit deserving of a win) even though Pixar’s Up (2009) could land the coveted statuette based on popular votes. Adapted from the beloved Roald Dahl children’s book of the same name, the film tells the story of Mr. Fox and his sneaky scheme to steal poultry, especially chicken, from three nearby farms run by three nasty, detestable humans with a collective mission: to kill Mr. Fox and his family.

Director Wes Anderson who is well-known for films such as Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) is one of the key American filmmakers of the 90s to revive the low-budget independent offbeat comedy. Even though much of his works remain underappreciated, Anderson has a loyal following claiming that he is one of the great filmmakers of our time. While that might be exaggerating it a fair bit, Fantastic Mr. Fox shows us why he is on course to being judged as such.

Fantastic Mr. Fox follows the stop-motion tradition of the Wallace And Gromit films, and refutes the argument that brilliant animated films can only be made by Pixar. Anderson’s obsession with detail and his mastery of mise-en-scene also means that the film is far from ‘kiddish’; on the contrary, it can be seen as quality art. While children may enjoy the visuals and the odd dose of behavioral humor (e.g. how the foxes consume their meal or how they dig themselves out of trouble), parents who are forced to tag along are far more likely to appreciate the authenticity of the character and set models used, and the themes of ‘family’, ‘responsibility’, and ‘collectivism’ which reverberate with quiet resonance throughout the film.

There is some superb voice work on show here with George Clooney as Mr. Fox and Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox. Supporting voice talents include stars Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Michael Gambon, William Dafoe, and Owen Wilson. An ‘ethnic’ influence is evident in one of the characters here whose obsession with yoga and its meditative properties recalls a certain ‘spiritual’ Schwartzman in The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Anderson’s previous film about three brothers on a bonding trip to India.

Fantastic Mr. Fox also explores the important theme of domesticity versus the wild. Mr. Fox has a lovely family and he dotes on them. In short, he lives a comfortable life in his big house under a tree. But more often than not, he succumbs to his animalistic instinct by ‘hunting’ for food from the farms. He enjoys the temporal satisfaction of being a wild animal, or in this case, a sly, scheming fox. In a key scene, Mr. Fox has a fleeting encounter with a black wolf. Even though suppressed by a psychological fear of wolves, he admires from distance the dark beauty of the creature, its freedom to roam the lands, to hunt, and its fortune to avoid the tepidity that is domesticity.

An Anderson masterpiece of craftsmanship and direction, Fantastic Mr. Fox very much assures itself of a spot in my top ten films of 2009.

SCORE: 9/10
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Recommendations: Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010), To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan, 1962), The Visitor

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Last updated: 2010-05-30 03:08:36 by eternality_tan

Fantastic Mr. Fox un film de Wes Anderson

First of all, I must say that I am a 100% a fan of the  work of Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. I remember seing The Royal Tenenbaums how the kitsch  off-beat indie naive charm label of the film got me and how with  multiple viewings it’s becoming one of my favourite film of all time. I  also remember when I discovered The  Squid and The Whale, I didn’t expect anything... It was the story  of my family and at the time I saw it, The Squid and the Whale deeply touched me and it’s why  you find it in my Top 5 of the last decade.
 
I was  looking forward for Fantastic Mr. Fox,  especially when TSPDT put it in their highly recommend films (btw the  first of W. Anderson’s films). This is the story of Mr. Fox (George  Clooney) who swore to his loving wife, Felicity (Meryl Streep) to stop  stealing from the humans and get a real job. For 12 years, he made it  but the temptation and the emptiness of his new life of columnist  brought him to secretly restart his activities until the humans  discovers his felony and try to catch him.
 
On the story level, Anderson and Baumbach were adapting  a child novel. But many main themes that are recurring in Anderson’s  filmography: the failure of the father figure, the wonder child that  tries anything to impress and be accepted by his dad are present here.  I’m just afraid that Anderson is gonna get the critic of always redoing  the same film over and over like Woody Allen had the same criticism. His  stories are charming so as the characters but I’d like to see another  of film from Anderson even if I had a really good time watching Fantastic Mr. Fox.
I read some critics when Fantastic  Mr. Fox came out that it wasn’t a family film, I think this is  so a family film because the animations are made with stop motion  something very different from the 3D family films abounding. Well, it’s  no surprise coming from Wes Anderson the more kitsch filmmaker out  there. It has a unique charm and feeling into it. I truly recommend this  film to anyone with or without children.
 
 
A Film review by  Michaël Parent

http://cinephiliaque.blogspot.com/2010/03/fantastic-mr-fox-un-film-de-wes.html

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Recommendations: Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie, Duel

Last updated: 2010-04-27 14:37:06 by MichaelParent

Movie Review: The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Hmmm, where do I begin  with this one… I think this is going to be more about the works of Wes  Anderson, and how Fantastic Mr. Fox falls into his canon then it is  about the movie itself.  I have been a Wes Anderson fan since the first  time I saw Rushmore.  Yeah I know, me and everyone else in the world…  which is the interesting thing about Wes Anderson, I think that he has  pushed his way to the forefront as the auteur (woah, big word… means  filmmaker) of this generation.  He has spawned many copy cats… and he  has launched numerous careers. But is it possible that Wes Anderson hit his peak?  Three movies  ago?  I know that’s a bold statement from someone who calls themselves a  Wes Anderson fan, but… are you ready for a quote?
“I don’t think Wes Anderson has made a truly great film since The  Royal Tenenbaums” – Christian Kocinski
That’s not to say he hasn’t made any good movies since the Royal  Tenenbaums it’s just that I think Wes Anderson is trying to hard to  recreate both The Royal Tenenbaums, and Rushmore.
Let me go further into that statement… way back in 1994, Wes Anderson  released Bottle Rocket… a movie that was largely unknown to the main  stream audiences, but was well known among indie movie fans.  I myself  didn’t see the movie until well after The Life Aquatic came out.  This  movie allowed Wes Anderson to make his next movie… Rushmore.  This movie  is in itself a classic… it showed a more serious side to Bill Murray,  and launched the career of Jason Schwartzman.  It also was the start of  the “Wes Anderson Style” – for lack of a better term.
But just what is the “Wes Anderson Style”?  Well… I’d say it’s a  number of things, his use of Futura Bold in his title sequence, the use  of quirky drawings to illustrate a point, the use of a unique color  palette, his iconic slow motion shot, and let’s not forget his hip  soundtracks and his genius use of music.
On a side note I don’t know how many times I have heard people say  “It has a very ‘Wes Anderson’ Soundtrack” when referring to a movie’s  soundtrack….
All of these things make their way to the forefront in Rushmore, but I  don’t think it was perfected until The Royal Tenenbaums.  When The  Royal Tenenbaums came out, he did it perfectly and with much success…  his characters have a tendency to be caricatures of actual people, or  the people who are playing them.  They are the physical embodiement of  the whimsical drawings that fill the walls of Wes Anderson films.  And  this couldn’t be more evident then in The Royal Tenenbaums… Chaz  Tenenbaum (and kids) with their track suits and large curly hair.   Ritchie Tenenbaum with his corduroy suit and tennis sweat band… you get  the point. They really are, characters.
And as I say, he did this well with The Royal Tenenbaums… but, his  success and appeal grew so large, that he wasn’t able to capture the  sames style with The Life Aquatic, and the subsequent Darjeeling  Limited.  The first time I saw The Life Aquatic, I was hugely  disappointing… however upon repeat viewings I liked the movie more and  more.  I don’t necessarily remember what my initial disappointment was,  but I think it just wasn’t as strong of a movie as The Royal Tenenbaums.
Anderson’s next release, The Darjeeling Limited actually made The  Life Aquatic a better movie in my eyes… I think that although Darjeeling  Limited was a good, enjoyable and entertaining movie, it was by far  Anderson’s weakest film.  The only good things to come out of it, was  the scene where the three brothers saved the little boys, up until they  left the small village in India.  Which was about 20 minutes of the  film.  And also, the prelude with Jason Scwartzman and Natalie Portman.   Other then that, the movie was not that great.
My friend mentioned that it’s like “Wes Anderson just wanted to take a  trip to India, so he wrote a movie that took place there.”
So what’s my point? Well… my point is, with The Life Aquatic and  Darjeeling Limited it becomes clear that Wes Anderson is trying to hard  to capture that style that he presented in his first two main stream  films.  And as a result, I think both of these films fall short of the  mark.  And this is why Wes Anderson hasn’t made a truly great film since  The Royal Tenenbaums.
Anyhow, this is suppose to be a review of Fantastic Mr. Fox… which is  where I want to go next.  I still have mixed feelings about this  movie.  It’s quite possible that I was just bitter about the things  listed above, or maybe I was worried that Wes Anderson has just sort of  fallen from grace in my eyes.  But my initial thoughts on the trailer  for this movie were a little worrisome.  I didn’t feel it looked  “inspiring” – and I am saying that as a stop motion animator as well as a  filmmaker.  I thought the animation looked somewhat odd, and the voice  recording wasn’t good.  But, I threw caution to the wind, and went into  the movie with gusto anyway.
After seeing this movie, I can’t say I was disappointed… I do think  that Wes Anderson and crew did a wonderful job on the film, despite my  preconceived notions.  I thought the story was wonderful, (although I’m  sure that has a lot more to do with Roald Dahl then it does with Wes  Anderson), and I loved George Clooney in this movie… I think he really  got into this role, and he made the film what it is.
I do think that Wes Anderson has redeemed himself in my eyes, but  only slightly… I still think that The Royal Tenenbaums was a much better  movie, and I still maintain the opinion that he hasn’t made a truly  great film since then.  The last three films are “good, but not great” –  and that’s also an accurate description for Fantastic Mr. Fox… it was  good, but not great.  It was cute… I enjoyed it, and would see it  again.  I just wonder if it could have been better.
Oddly enough I read that Henry Selick was suppose to direct this  film, (with Anderson as producer I assume) but he pulled out to work on  Coraline instead.  Imagine what this movie would have been like directed  by Henry Selick.
In conclusion… I hope I haven’t turned anyone off to Wes Anderson, I  think it’s easier for me to tear him apart, because he is a filmmaker  that our generation has followed since Rushmore.  He’s the auteur of our  generation… and just like Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarentino, we can  claim them as our own and tear them down much more easily.  Or I don’t  know, maybe I’m just a jerk…
I would like to see Wes Anderson completely deviate from his “style”  and make something way out of left field.  I have heard the rumors that  he intends to shoot something in outer space… this could be good, or it  could be bad.  A “Space Odyssey” with Bill Murray and corduroy suits… I  don’t now maybe that could be good.  I guess we’ll see…

Christian Kocinski<br />
Filmmaker.Animator.Photographer<br />
www.ChristianKocinski.com<br />
www.IncoherentAstronomy.com<br />
www.SweetmintTheatre.com<br />
www.Cine-Rama.com

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

****

Wes Anderson was due for some sort of reboot - even he himself was drowning under his often [and obfuscatingly] imitated aesthetic. The expensive stop-motion visuals here are as meticulous and fetching as you’d expect, but also the character dynamics are carefully developed, and even inspired (with great help from a perfectly pitched cast).

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Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

If you haven’t seen this movie, do yourself a favor and go see it already. It is fantastic. Not even George Clooney’s involvement takes away from its brilliance. Wes Anderson’s finest film since RUSHMORE.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

I don't believe I've seen a stop motion film since the last time I was able to catch Wallace and Gromit on TV. Big studios tend to shy away from the ancient form of stop motion and pump their dollars into things like Pixar and Dreamwork Animation (aka the kid down the street from Pixar who is way jealous because Pixar is ten times more awesome than he is and stole his girlfriend.) Stop motion is a lost art to be sure. So when I heard there was a film coming out using stop motion, naturally I had to check it out.

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" stars some guy by the name of George Clooney, and some woman by the name of Meryl Streep, and some other guy named Bill Murray. All pretty no-name actors. I certainly have never heard of them. Mr. Fox is a professional bird hunter. He breaks into farms and steals whatever things a fox might enjoy from the farmers' storehouses. Unfortunately, because his wife gets pregnant, he promises to give up his dangerous life and become a newspaper correspondent.

If that sounds like a boring life, it's because it is. Mr. Fox can't stand it and if you want a decent plot, everyone knew the director couldn't stand it either. He decides to get back into the game and plan one huge raid on the three farms in the area. But Fox robs from the wrong men. The farmers get kinda peeved that animals are taking their food and start destroying the entire countryside, attempting to kill Fox and his friends. Fox has to figure out a way to stop the farmers and save his nephew that is being held captive by them.

Fantastic? eh, no. Weird? most definitley. This is an odd tale. Amusing, with incredible voicework, but not much substance. It wasn't as funny as it could have been, and replacing the F-word with cuss "are you cussing with me right now?" is only funny the first few times. Not if it's used for every other line. The movie is just an odd film. Nothing special, except for maybe the animation, and certainly nothing new.

Grade: 2 out of 4 stars

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Last updated: 2010-03-02 09:11:51 by JoeandChrisO

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Well, "Fantastic" is pushing it.

He's a better-than-average Mr. Fox. How's that? He's a pretty good Mr. Fox.

Mr. Fox, of course, is the main character in the new Wes Anderson film based on the Roald Dahl children's book. George Clooney provides the voice of the eponymous fox.

It's an animated affair, using stop-motion photography. This doesn't always work but the results are good here. The film has a quirky look in keeping with the tone of the story.

Said story is about not just Mr. Fox but his entire family. He has a wife, a son called Ash and a visiting nephew by the name of Kristofferson. They live in a spacious tree within sight of three bustling chicken farms.

And that's the rub, for the sly Mr. Fox likes nothing more than to steal chickens from maximum-security pens. This high-risk activity puts him at odds with his wife, who wants to raise their son in peace and safety.

Mr. Fox ends up doing as he pleases, as husbands are wont to do, and endangers not only his family but the entire local animal community when he inspires the three farmers to band together in an effort to eradicate the poaching fox.

Thus we are treated to a theme of selfishness versus self-sacrifice, which is perfectly fine. Unfortunately it doesn't mesh with the theme of self-worth in the subplot, which concerns Ash's feelings of inadequacy vis a vis his high-achieving cousin Kristofferson.

Furthermore, Mr. Fox's transformation from a thrill-seeker to a contented family man (fox?) is unconvincing, since we only ever see him in the grips of a pressing emergency, which is the opposite of the quiet domesticity he claims, at the end, to embrace. Alas, it's very easy to imagine Mr. Fox feeling another yen for chickens a couple years after the events of the movie.

If you can't tell, I definitely take the movie as an allegory for adultery. Which makes the cursory resolution of theme all the more disappointing. We could use a good insight into the apparent hopelessness of human fidelity. Or even an expression of anguish in the face of it. We get neither here.

Bereft of thematic coherence, emotional heft or noteworthy insight into human nature, "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" is reduced to a pleasant adventure had by talking animals.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

But director Wes Anderson gave us "Rushmore" once upon a time. Since then, he has been an auteur in search of a story. His quirky style is undimmed, but eventually style alone starts to pale.

It's hard not to feel that a stop-action chase movie peopled with furry creatures is a subconscious attempt by Anderson to avoid the hard grapple with substance every artist of a certain caliber is obligated to engage.

I wish Anderson would stop dodging that responsibility and start grappling. What movie-goers in every generation want and need is something hard and honest, and it doesn't matter if it's delivered by people or animals.

But it must be delivered.

SCORE

How Accomplished: 62/100

How Much I Enjoyed: 57/100

Fantastic Mr. Fox

The fantastical fantastic movie by the fantastic director Wes Anderson, starring the fantastical George Clooney and the fantastic Meryl Streep called the Fantastic Mr. Fox!



The film is a stop motion adaptation of a Roald Dahl novel. Mr. Fox, after having sweared to his wife he'll leave the dangerous business of chicken stealing reverts back to his old ways, endangering his family and entire neighbourhood when he steals from 3 incredibly ugly and psychopathic farmers.



Most people still don't appreciate the amazing technique of stop motion animation, simply cos they don't know what it is. Well you uncultured Malaysian... stop motion is shooting a film frame by frame while physically manipulating set pieces to make them look like their moving on their own. Basically.. it's moving every tiny detail of a set piece one at a time, taking lots and lots of photos and stringing everything together. It's friggin hard so I really salute the makers of Mr. Fox.



Some people complain that the stop animation is too sloppy and the set pieces does seem choppy when played in linear but that's what is so great about stop motion in my opinion. Sure you can go all perfectionist like Henry Selick's Coraline to the point where you don't even notice the stop motion but what's the point to that really? The little riffs and slight inperfections in Mr. Fox's animation is a great throw back to what stop motion used to be back in the 80's.



George Clooney, The Man, The Almighty God of Acting shines once more as the witty, fast talking, charming Mr. Fox. His stop motion character reminded me of a mash between Danny Ocean and Ulysses Everett McGill. Incredibly fun to watch and hard not to like Mr. Fox even if he is a crappy dad and husband.


Michael Gambon was great as Franklin Bean, the leader of the psychotic farmers going after Mr. Fox and family. He gets into so many violent fits of rage, Fantastic Mr. Fox seemed more like an adult movie instead of a kids cartoon most of the time. It was like watching Dumbledore play Lord Voldemort wahaha.



Kudos to the scriptwriters who came up with a fantastic script of so much clever humour and just maximum levels of wit and charm. That's all I can use to describe the movie really, wit and charm. It's kind of sad that most Malaysians won't enjoy Mr. Fox's comedy cause their just too dumb to get intelligent satirical jokes. To them, a man in cicak costume is more entertaining.



It's also a shame that Fantastic came out the same year as Pixar's Up because I really really really want to see this film win some animation awards which by now are already reserved in Up's honor. But for what it's worth, Fantastic Mr. Fox is an animation gem, woth seeing in the cinema and worth buying the DVD.

RATING: 8/10

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NicholasC

Super Marcey's Fantastic Mr. Fox Review

Rating: 4.5/5

I have to say that this film really is fantastic! I honestly cannot remember if I read the story by Roald Dahl, as I used to read his stuff quite a lot in my younger years. So I can’t really say how faithful it was to the source material. But what I got here was a highly enjoyable and really fun film. I enjoyed every second of it, I really just loved everything about it, it was great!

The story is about a trio of nasty farmers who want to get rid of the fox who steals from them. That fox is Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney) who is not satisfied with his life and he wants to go back to doing what he used to do before having a son, stealing! Of course chaos and fun play a big part in all of this and lesson are learned.

The voice casting for this was just great, George Clooney was so perfect for Mr. Fox he had all the right elements and it worked so well. Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox was another case of great voice casting, she was divine in the role, just loved her. Jason Schwartzman also worked really well as their son Ash who really is quite the adorable little character. Bill Murray as the badger was another really nice choice, I really enjoyed what he brought to the table. Other notables were Wally Wolodarsky as Kylie, who was Mr. Fox’s right hand man so to speak. He was great and Kylie was just a great character too. Eric Anderson (Brother of Wes) was quite awesome as cousin Kristofferson, I loved the chemistry he had with George and Jason, it all worked so well. I just loved the casting of Michael Gambon as our main bad guy, he was just fantastic. Also keep an ear out for Willem Dafoe as the ugly, nasty rat. He played that part well, and I actually had no idea he was a voice in the film, so that was a surprise.

The stop motion animation in this was really great, I loved the style of it. It brought this great humor to the story and characters, it worked so well. I loved the scene where we first see Ash and his expression and body language just worked so well for the scene and his character and it was portrayed in the voice as well. All the elements for this film just came together so nicely. It was nicely paced, it had such a good amount of humor and a nice running time. I really could easily rewatch this quite often, a fantastic film and easily one of my favourites from Wes Anderson. This was something different for him, and it worked, I wasn’t sure what I might think of the film initially when I heard about it. The trailer was really good, and the good reviews started to come in and I was confident I would like it, but I didn’t expect to love it! I am glad to be surprised by a film, I highly recommend this one folks.

(Review written January 11th 2010, first posted on SuperMarcey.com)

Recommendations: Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009), Milk, Hurt Locker, The (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)

Last updated: 2010-02-14 20:17:51 by SuperMarcey

Fantastic Mr. Fox - **1/2

Directed by:  Wes Anderson


Starring:  George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray


Review:  This is a movie that I liked more than the amount of stars I gave it would lead you to believe.  This is a very original movie and I love the stop-motion animation used to bring this to life.  Wes Anderson has always had a dry cookie sense of humor and using this type of animation truly gives it greater life than any human actually could. 

The movie centers around Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney), a former thief who had to give up the life to be a family man as his wife was pregnant with their first fox cub.  Mr. Fox does this to appease his wife but is not happy with his life.  As such, he decides to move into a better home and try to upgrade his family's life.  However, a new home is just not quite enough.  This leads Mr. Fox back to the thieving trade to get up class food and cider for his family that he steals from the three farmers that live near his tree. 

Mr. Fox slowly gets many prominent members of the community involved in the thievery which then turns a small operation into an all out war.  The farmers attempt to upend Mr. Fox by digging out his tree and then shooting him, bur Mr. Fox and the rest of community just dig deeper into the ground where they are able to devise a plan to outthwart the farmers. 

This uprising is lead by Mr. Fox and still involves stealing the farmers' goods.  It appears, even though stealing almost cost him his life and it did cost him his home, he has still not learned and it only coaxes him further back into this dangerous life.  Greed can corrupt like this, but does not make one a bad person.  Mr. Fox wanted to keep taking more and more but his original purpose was to provide for his family.  This does not completely justify his actions but shows that he is a good man, he just has to fight the "wild animal" within. 

Mr. Fox rarely apologizes for what he does and never looks back or sulks or sees anything as a failure.  Rather, each new setback is an opportunity to capitalize even more, even if it seems like a better idea to just pack up and go home.  This is an interesting take on such a story.  The ending is more or less happy, and there is some growth to Mr. Fox and most of the inhabitants in this story, but it is not a feel good cuddly type.  You see, we leave this moving knowing that these animals may not change and may always be "wild animals," but their perspective has definitely changed and they have a better idea of what matters in life, which is something I feel everyone should take from this movie.

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The Fantastic Mr. Fox

"The Fantastic Mr. Fox" is quite a visual experience that is unique and yes a little trippy. It is a great film to just watch as chaos and a hypnotic beauty spring from every corner of the screen. This is a very fast, busy film that you have to pay attention to because there is a lot going on. It is a fun film to also listen to for I liked it's screwball dialogue and if you don't pay attention you might miss some key, funny dialogue. Therein lies a problem I have with the movie and that is it might be too damn fast and clever for it's own good sometimes. Is that a bad thing? When most kids movies are dumb, slow or dim witted this movie is a feat of imagination. It is based on something solid by a great, imaginative children's author in Roald Dahl. Now I had a lot of fun in this movie but somehow I didn't embrace it as much as I thought I would. I think it needed to slow down just a little so I could catch my breath. It is along the same type of groundbreaking animation like say a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" but the story execution is somewhat weaker. That being said this movie is still worth seeing and on a second viewing I might grow to love it. This is a movie I think needs to be seen twice and I would love to revisit it on DVD. I think a lot of this material will go over very little kid's heads but there are wonderful visuals that will get their eyes to pop out of their heads. Older kids will love it I think. I could see it being played on college campuses at midnight also. Take a few drugs, though I don't condone this, and you can have quite a head trip. You can also have drinking parties as say every time a character says cuss you take a drink. I love how every swear word is replaced by cuss as in "What the Cuss" as this is a brilliant touch in a very clever movie. The voice work is very good as Clooney and Schwartzman are perfectly cast. The movie has some classic lines of dialogue and is beautiful to look at but maybe Wes Anderson needs to slow it down and lay off a little of the hip quotient. This might get better on a second viewing as is this week's "The Road" and I would rather have that desire to have a movie that wants me to watch it again to see if I missed something rather than be bored and hating myself for seeing it. With "Where The Wild Things Are" there is hope for children's movies now that also adults will appreciate.

Vincent Snavely

Fantastic Mr. Fox

     If you've seen one Wes Anderson's movie, you've basically seen them all, and "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is no different.  I already knew this about Anderson's movies, and I wasn't going to bother with "Fantastic Mr. Fox," but I finally saw one too many reviews and articles lauding Anderson for his genius and wonderful, quirky style and claiming "Fantastic Mr. Fox" to be Oscar worthy material; I had to see the obvious for myself and write an honest review.
 
     "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is a stop motion animation film by director and writer Wes Anderson, based loosely on one of Roald Dahl's lesser known children's books by the same title.  Mr. Fox, voiced by George Clooney, is a former chicken thief, who gave it up for his family, but yearns to steal again.  He plots against three of the meanest farmers (who didn't do anything to him before this) and their large farms.  Ultimately, he brings the wrath of these three farmers down upon himself, his family, and the entire forest, and yet, he's somehow still considered a good guy in all of this. (I'm sorry, but that's as far as I could go before I begin dogging this thing.)
 
     Like all Wes Anderson films, "Fantastic Mr. Fox" features people, or, in this case, anthropomorphic animals, mumbling rather than having good dialogue or wit of any kind, very little attention to realistic character development, an incredible, yet inane, plot, uncomfortable situations rather than humor, no real flow to the story line, a very poorly constructed story, and Wes Anderson trying to work out whatever issues he has with his father on the screen.  The animation is mediocre at best.  Some of it looks like Anderson is going for a very retro kind of feel, about the quality of early Wallace and Gromit, but other parts, like the way that fur on the animal puppets tends to move about in random directions (even during still shots) because the people moving the puppets for each shot are sloppy and not minding their fingers, make everything feel fake and takes you out of the movie.  The puppets are almost expressionless.  Facial expressions are limited to movement of the mouth, eyes, and an occasional tear in the eye, so their faces seem rather dead and doll like most of the time.  The walking, especially, and movement, in general, is very sketchy and doesn't help to create any illusion of reality or help you immersion in the film.  Much of the dialogue seems either improvised or just poorly thought out.  (Or just the typical Wes Anderson aimless rambling.)  Characters engage in meaningless banter that goes nowhere and often trails off into mumbling.  This tends to break up any kind of flow or rhythm the film might (or might not) have and takes you right out of the moment.  There is a brief first and second act, sort of, then the bulk of the movie is third act resolution that tends to wander back into second act territory, as if Wes Anderson can't decide how he wants the movie to turn out, but isn't going to take any writing back.  Ultimately, there is sort of an ending, but not a very good one.
 
     Am I being too harsh?  After all, this is a kid's movie, right?  Actually, I'm not sure if it is.  Sure, it was based on a book intended for children, but this really isn't a movie for kids.  This is just an animated version of the same movie that Wes Anderson does every time.  Children may find something enjoyable in it, but it wasn't made for them.  The humor, if you can call it that, will, mostly, go right over their heads.  Children are likely to get bored with such a poorly paced story.  There's plenty of smoking and drinking, foxes kill chickens, which seem to be the only animals that are not anthropomorphized, Mr. Fox's tail is dismembered by gunfire, a rat dies in a knife fight and Mr. Fox delivers an incredibly cynical eulogy that is bound to disillusion most children watching.  Wes Anderson can't even try to make a movie without profanity.  He didn't actually use any profane language in "Fantastic Mr. Fox," but he also didn't write a movie without it.  He just replaces the amply amount of profane language with the word 'cuss,' as in, 'What the cuss?'  (We all know what you fraking mean.)  This is distracting at best and makes you feel like you're watching an episode of the "Smurfs" at worst.  It's also not very original.  (Curses, foiled again!)  I'm all for making more realistic and challenging movies for kids.  If you challenge children, they will rise to the occasion, and if you pander to them, they don't grow, but this material is neither realistic nor challenging to children.  "Fantastic Mr. Fox" feels like Wes Anderson is making a movie for adults that spoofs or feels like a kid's movie, but children watching it is definitely an afterthought.
 
     Eighty-seven minutes has never felt so long and I am really tired of Anderson trying to work out his 'daddy issues' on the big screen.  Wes Anderson is not a great writer or director. He once made a movie that connected with a small number of people and has been rehashing the same old tricks ever sense.  Having visible titles all over your movie and a, so called, quirky style does not make you a great director or writer.  It's poor storytelling and is alienating to audiences in general.  If one is going to make movies that pander to small, specific audiences, and lack the basic story structure to make that movie enjoyable to anyone outside of that small group, you might as well just keep those films in limited release, or better yet, straight to DVD. Also, Wes Anderson might want to think about not phoning in the entire directing job from another country when he makes his next, inevitable, film, like he did with "Fantastic Mr. Fox."  It shows.
 
     I don't recommend "Fantastic Mr. Fox" to anyone who doesn't already have a deep love of Wes Anderson's other films and I would strongly caution parents from letting their children see this movie.  My best advice to parents is to see it yourself first and see if it is what you want your children watching.
 
P.S.
 
     On a more personal note, (more personal than that??!) I would like to address the recent talk about "Fantastic Mr. Fox" being nominated for one or multiple Academy Awards.  If there is any justice in this world and if the Academy members are sane and rational people, any category that "Fantastic Mr. Fox" could possibly be nominated for should already be occupied by Henry Selick's "Coraline," a truly great stop motion animation children's movie, and any category that Anderson himself could be nominated for should, similarly, be already occupied by Henry Selick, a talented and deserving director who personally oversaw every detail that went into the making of "Coraline;" all three years of it.  The Academy should not reward sloppy and lazy work by chalking it up to personal style.
 
     I would also like to take this opportunity to personally apologize to Henry Selick on Wes Anderson's behalf.  Wes Anderson should be ashamed that he couldn't even bother to be in the same country where his movie was being filmed, for phoning in his directions by taking videos of himself and sending them to the set, for trying to cover up all the obvious flaws in this film by casting George Clooney in the lead role, and for personally putting the genera of stop motion animation back 40 years.   Mr. Selick, I am so sorry that a shiny piece of excrement steals the light from the truly magnificent piece of art you created early this year and I sincerely hope that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does not fail to recognize yours as the greater talent and achievement when it hands out awards this March.

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Brian
Ciné Critique Américain

Fantastic Mr. Fox (published January 2010)

When I see movies, I simply shoot for story's that seem worth telling and one's that seem to be told well. I don't give much thought to the genre or target audience of the film. Thus, I was initially surprised to see several children in the theatre for this movie until I remembered the source material. By the time the end credits were rolling, I wanted to ask the kids in the theatre whether they enjoyed the movie or not. I couldn't help but wonder how I would have felt had I seen it when I was 7, 8, or 9. It would have had an odd effect on me, indeed.
 
This is not a traditional animated film, even if it does use one of the more traditional forms of animation. It is not always straightforward and direct nor does it even try to keep the senses fully satisfied during every second. In fact, the soundtrack can be very quiet at times with only simple, low dB foley effects added in to what would otherwise be silent stretches with no music to dictate the emotions with. I can imagine that I probably would not have enjoyed it as a child, because my taste was limited to what fulfilled my superficial expectations.
 
But kids should be taken to see this just so they can experience something different, yet in a familiar format. There is a lot that's expressed with these characters. Much of the narrative deals with finding one's identity. Mr. Fox asks:
 
"Why a fox? Why not a horse, a beetle, or a bald eagle?"
 
But nevertheless he is a fox, and in his attempt to live up to his desire of being "fantastic," he does what he does best and hatches up a master plan to steal from some rather mean farmers who in turn seek vengeance. This gets not only Mr. Fox, but the surrounding community running for their lives. Meanwhile, his son deals with insecurity after the arrival of his perfect cousin.
 
The script is witty, at times hilarious, and layered and Anderson makes nice use of the photography. His quirky direction is fitting to the main idea presented: we are all different, but "there is something fantastic about that." We have our abilities and inabilities and I suppose we can change how we feel about them. In the end, we just are who we are and do what we do and sometimes it might mean that no matter what we do to redeem ourselves, we are just another dead rat behind a Chinese restaurant.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Plot: After stealing from three wealthy farms, Mr. Fox and his family become fugitives as the farmers declare war, and won’t rest until Mr. Fox is found.

In the late 90’s and early part of this decade, Wes Anderson was one of my favorite filmmakers.  Rushmore and the Royal Tenenbaums are two of my favorite movies.  But after Tenenbaums, he released the very mediocre Life Aquatic and then the Darjeeling Limited three years later, his worst film yet.  But he’s back in a big way with his latest effort, the Fantastic Mr. Fox.  Although it’s animated, you can tell it’s a Wes Anderson movie.  The man has a very distinct style that is his own and no one else’s, often very quirky and off-beat.  Normally this style of filmmaking pisses me off to no end such as films like I Heart Huckabees or Burn After Reading.  They are just being weird for the sake of being weird but ultimately say nothing.  I accept Wes Anderson’s style because his weirdness actually enhances who the characters are, and the man writes damn good characters.  Fantastic Mr. Fox has these in bunches, which Anderson’s previous two movies did not have.  

This is a funny movie.  It’s not laugh-out-loud, but that’s okay.  The story is ‘meh,’ but the characters are off the charts hysterical.  The way they interact with each other and the environment around them is so much fun to watch.  This is credit to the writing, but the voice talents really give the characters their mojo.  George Clooney as Mr. Fox takes some getting used to, but the voice grows on you as the film goes on.  Jason Schwartzman is fantastic as Mr. Fox’s egotistical and underachieving son Ash.  Bill Murray – great as always.  But the man who steals the show is Wally Wolodarsky as Kylie the possum.  He’s portrayed as a little crazy and unstable (the great visuals attest to this), but his voice is so sensible and subdued.  I loved it. 

The best part is the relationship between the father and son, Mr. Fox and Ash.  Both characters are exactly the same, yet one is successful and the other fails.  Mr. Fox is so damn reckless, and literally digs himself into deeper and deeper holes, yet most of the time he comes out the winner.  His son Ash is exactly the same, only he fails miserably at everything he does.  What also makes this relationship fascinating is that Mr. Fox sees his son as different and an oddball, yet he can’t see that he’s the same way and instead bonds with his nephew, Kristofferson (Eric Anderson), who not only has all the talent in the world, but is very zen and has his head on straight.  Mr. Fox thinks Kristofferson is just like him, but they are two very different people.  Watching all these characters clash is what makes a Wes Anderson movie great.

The one big problem I had with this movie though is that the story is too impulsive.  What I mean by this is it just decides to ramp up whenever it wants to with no build up or explanation.  At the beginning of the movie, Mr. Fox decides he’s done stealing from farms, but resorts back to his old ways after years of retirement.  Just like that.  I understand that the character himself is impulsive, but I just didn’t buy this.  It just happens.  

There is also some of that “weird for the sake of being weird” element that adds nothing.  There is one scene in particular that brought me a great deal of frustration.  The characters just start dancing.  I know why they are dancing, but it felt way out of place, especially because everyone was acting so subdued throughout the movie to this point.  

If you are a Wes Anderson fan like me, you are going to love this.  The characters have all their quirks about them, especially in how they dress, which is what I expect in an Anderson flick. They face serious problems like death and family togetherness with a “whatever” attitude, but you still get the sense they care a great deal.  Even if you don’t know or like Anderson, you will enjoy this one a lot.  If anything, the stop motion animation is fun to watch.  You don’t see that anymore.

Rating:  8.0 out of 10.       

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Last updated: 2010-02-01 18:38:00 by danjewish

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Request from my bud Matt. Keep on sending requests everyone so I can  review one of yours.
When Mr. Fox’s nightly raids on three nearby farms raise the ire of  the selfish farmers, he must outwit the men’s increasingly outrageous  plans to catch him in this animated adaption of the Roald Dahl book. As  the farmers’ schemes take a toll on his hungry family, Mr. Fox must find  a new way to get his paws on the bounty. Wes Anderson directs, and  George Clooney, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman lend  their voice-over talents.

The one thing I may note about this film is that it has the appeal to  younger children with its cute animation, and PG rating. But the jokes  here will probably be too smart for children, and most likely go over  their heads. I don’t think there’s anything inappropriate here, but it  surely isn’t for the kiddies.

Once again, Wes Anderson allows us to see the world through his eyes.  I think it is so cool that Anderson can make an animated film, and you  can still look at it knowing its a Wes Anderson movie. Basically  anything that seems tired in a live-action movie, completely works here.  Cause your not used to seeing a badger puppet do the same things that a  human would do in another Wes Anderson film.

The visuals for this film are very splendid. It looks so good, and  very exciting. You feel like you are seeing a world with these  creatures, but also with these humans and not only does it move along  real well with the animation, at some points it looks too good to be  true.

I did like some of the humor for this film, I just didn’t think it  held up quite as well in this as it does with plenty of others from Wes  Anderson. There is little quirky and quick jokes that are amusing at  first, but then at times the jokes feel a bit too forced and not placed  all too well.

Clooney as Mr, Fox wasn’t the best choice to be truly honest. I felt  like he was being too much of George Clooney and not trying to be  Fantastic Mr. Fox, like he was put out to be. The best job here is  Schwartzman, who although is playing a young teenager, still seems  believable as a teen full of angst and trying to look for understanding  in his life.

Consensus: Fantastic Mr. Fox is cute, at times funny, and visually  splendid. I just didn’t feel like the jokes were too flattering, and the  voices could have been a bit better.

7/10=Rental!!!!

life has its own ways of working out<br />
visit my movie review site at www.dtmmr.wordpress.com Feel Free to comment or request any movies at any time! :)