Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs, a Wes Anderson film
May 1, 2018
Release Date: March 23, 2018
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston (Chief), Koyu Rankin (Atari), Edward Norton (Rex), Bob Balaban (King), Bill Murray (Boss), Jeff Goldblum (Duke)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Our Rating: A+
“Isle of Dogs” is, of course, a Wes Anderson movie. However, unlike all of Anderson’s previous films, “Isle of Dogs” is strikingly the most Wes Anderson-esque. The majority of his other movies are very much in his own unique style, which is characterized by symmetry in every frame and the use of pastel colors almost everywhere. Due to the fact that “Isle of Dogs” is a stop-motion animated film, the director has the ability to control the ambiance in every shot; Anderson truly takes this to heart. Almost every shot of the entire movie, from long shots on bridges to close-ups on stages, is almost perfectly symmetrical. This leads to a kind of atmosphere that makes the whole movie seem almost like a fairy tale, but a sick and twisted fairy tale where a sociopathic leader attempts to deport, and then kill, all dogs living on an island in Japan.
“You don’t review a Wes Anderson movie, you just talk about how nice it looks,” sophomore David Delgado said.
Not even dogs in the wasteland approve of socks and sandals.
The chosen style of animation helps lessen the intensity of the ever-present theme of desperation and survival, cleverly disguising what would clearly be a movie for adults if it was live action, as a movie for everyone, with the possible exception of people who aren’t fans of art movies (this film contains some avant-garde aspects to it, namely the backstory and how it relates to the rest of the story). On that point, the entire movie is a clever metaphor for the backstory it is based on.
“The movie had a weird atmosphere that’s tough to describe, but it was very good, and there were some crazy twists, something I wouldn’t expect from a movie like this,” freshman Justin Vazquez said.
The entire movie looks like this; perfectly symmetrical with a drab pastel background, but it works very nicely.
Put all together, the style of animation coupled with the spunky and gruff characters makes for a fantastic movie that will satisfy anyone’s desire to watch an enjoyable movie that they will likely see onstage at the Oscars.”Isle of Dogs” is a movie shown both in large theaters and small art cinemas alike for its overall appeal to everyone who watches it. “Isle of Dogs” is clearly the most inclusively enjoyable movie of the year.
