Review of Isle of Dogs (2018) by Robert J — 14 Apr 2018

Impressive animation film that tells a great story in a witty, light hearted way.

Before watching this film, my impression of it was so-so. It didn't have really crazy explosive animation. The trailer was overly simple and didn't give much of a preview at all. After watching the film, I have to say this is an unforgettable film and I can watch it again next week.

Immediately in the open, you will realized the music is extremely captivating. The Japanese big drum (tai-ko) was so much fun to watch and listen to. Picture to music is seemlessly put together. Appropriate sound track with each moment and each scene. Everything flows really well, from one to the next! Each scene, the music conveying an emotion before the dialogue. This really helps with the some of the parts that did not have a translation, because music is universal language; the thrill, darkness, loneliness, romance, dangers...etc. were exact and correct feelings that it's trying to convey. Can't wait for the original sound track in my Apple Music !

Great visual, character design and development! First of all, I didn't know the style of this type of animation is called "stop-motion animation". Instead of drawing or illustration, they use puppets or action-figure for each second in motion, which is very impressive. The personification of each doggie, you can definitely see the social references. Chief, Rex, King, Boss, Duke are speaking in English the whole time, and they use democratic voting system formed a pact in order to survive in the abandonment island. Within the pack, Chief is the stray dog, who never has a master, of course never bathed or loved also. Therefore he is very rebellious and doesn't wanna be obedient. Rex is an indoor territorial dog with a nice life. King is popular commercial acting dog. Boss is the sportsman. Duke is high maintenance social elite. Nutmeg is the show dog/showgirl, later on has a romance with one of the pact member. The dialogue among these little creatures are fast, funny and packed with content and details. You immediately can find all these characters in our current society perhaps in ourselves as well! Director Wes Anderson and the other writers must have very in-depth knowledge of different and current social groups. Within the dialogue there are really sensitive informations and feelings, the writers use clever ways to carry these out without being offensive and degrading. I loved it!

The storyline or actually storylines! Yes I think there are many stories actually are happening at the same time. The complications and intricacies of writing is shocking! I think there are: 1. Political line(the mayor with cat business) 2. Hero line(Atari saving his pet) 3. Romance line(Nutmeg and Chief) 4. Camaraderie line(the pact of 5 dogs) 5. Long lost sibling line(Chief and Spots) 6. Leader follower relationship line(Atari and the dogs) 7. Conspiracy Theorist line(Tracy Walker of the student protestors). And the whole movie ended on the next generation of a new beginning! From prologue to the body, and to the end, every of storyline is entangled and intertwined with each other, scene after scene. Crossover with forward development and revealing stories one after another, pushing into a very explosive climax in part four: Atari's lantern. Okay that's it for now, I don't like spoilers.

Tempo is perfect. Most of the Japanese hybrid production normally has really good speed. There are a lot of slow vs. fast to create dynamic moments. Powerful ability in picture telling stories. Everything is calm and balanced, at the same time dynamic and dramatic. It really shows how can a few pictures tell more than thousand words. That's another reason why I think the non-translated parts were not an issue. It's fun to watch, easy to understand everything and I really enjoyed this great piece of art work!

In cinematography, there are a lot of balanced shot throughout the movie. The amount of balanced shots are actually at an OCD level. This is definitely a good thing for this animation film. There are a lot of content in each picture, especially the background design and illustration are so amazing. You get to sit back, relax and enjoy the story and the beauty uninterruptedly. Great way of presenting a motion picture in such way. The screen can be attractive to audience without being obnoxious or overly in your face. Parts of the film reminded me of "Kill Bill". The by-parts way of telling a story, music, scene style, whistling, zoom-in in the eyes with dramatic emotions. Overall it's highly artistic!

The social and cultural stories embedded much deeper than the animation. The gullible citizens just do what the government promotes. The government's hidden "kitty business". People fight for the loved ones. Student protestor whose looking for the truth. All these are carried out by 5 cute little abandoned pets, who are the voiceless victims! It revealed a lot of stories and issues to mass audience on a witty simple level.

I would give this movie a Solid A!