Hawkeye Reviews: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson, director of such great films as “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums,” brings us his latest quirky project in “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” loosely based on the book by Roald Dahl. For those of you familiar with Anderson’s work, you know that he has a very peculiar tone to his films coupled together with a bizarre sense of humor. Apparently, this tone of his even carries over into the world of animation.
As the film opens, we meet Mr. Fox (Voice of George Clooney) and Mrs. Fox (Voice of Meryl Streep) as they are on an outing to steal some animals from a farmer. While doing so, they get caught in the farmer’s trap. This is the time that Mrs. Fox chooses to reveal to her husband that she is pregnant, and she demands that, if they survive, he must choose another line of work.
Jumping to two years later (or 12 fox years as the film informs us), Mr. and Mrs. Fox are living happily in a hole in the ground with their son Ash (Voice of Jason Schwartzman). Mr. Fox has a new job as a newspaperman, but expresses how living in a hole makes him feel poor. After buying a tree with the help of his lawyer, Badger (Voice of Bill Murray), he moves into it with his family. Things seem better. However, the fact that this tree is located right near three farms could have had an influence on Mr. Fox’s decision. With the help of the super, Kylie (Voice of Wallace Wolodarsky), Fox decides to go for one big finale to his old job by stealing from all three farmers.
It’s amazing that Wes Anderson was able to bring his old charm from live-action into animation. His films tend to involve the characters getting into some wild and strange situations like Rushmore, where a kid falls in love with one of his teachers or “The Royal Tenenbaums,” where….well, that family has far too many problems to list here. Now, Anderson has toned down the strangeness, while keeping the wild side, for a broader audience, including kids.
Anderson’s style also includes a quirky sense of humor that is seen throughout “Mr. Fox.” The jokes aren’t really directed towards one group per se, but instead are there for everyone to enjoy, and so they did. Kids and adults were laughing thoroughly throughout the screening, meaning it passed the humor test for both groups. Anderson’s humor is kind of hard to explain. He tends to take awkward situations and somehow make it amusing, through dialogue or even through something like the framing of a shot.
The screenplay, by Anderson and Noah Baumbach, is short and to the point, but still manages to find room for emotion and cleverness, particularly through the quick, snappy dialogue. I was told that the film strays quite a bit from the book by Roald Dahl, which, when I saw it, looked maybe three centimeters thick. The film apparently adds more on to the story, so don’t be surprised that it isn’t an exact adaptation of the book, which, if it was, would have probably only ran about 30 minutes.
At first, the animation style that was used for the film seemed quite strange. It uses a kind of stop-motion animation where puppets are set up for each individual shot. However, it quickly grows on you as Anderson allows the story to unfold and immerse you to the point where you stop noticing it. This is the first time that Anderson has dabbled in animation, and it seems to prove he has a talent for it.
Something else that really helps one immerse themselves in the story was the excellent voice-acting. Clooney, in particular, has a knack for the fast-paced dialogue of his character. Then there’s Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray (an Anderson regular) who are always a delight, even though it is only their voices we hear for this film. This film is another instance where it becomes fun to pick out what voices you can recognize (at least when you aren’t already aware of the cast). You might also recognize the voices of Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Michael Gambon, and Willem Dafoe.
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” is enjoyable for both kids and adults. Fans of Wes Anderson’s previous work will also be entertained with what he does with a landscape other than live-action. I have avoided saying that the movie is fantastic due to that being a far-too-standard cliché, likely to be used by many in the near future, so I’ll go with something completely original and simply say that Wes Anderson is quite clever….clever as a fox.
3.5/4 stars.
This article can also be read in my column at The Richmond Examiner.
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