Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Too much of everything

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is, in a word, unique. The stop-motion animation is just as interesting as the quirky dialogue and unconventional story. Fantastic Mr. Fox is Wes Anderson's first venture into family-friendly fare, and I think he did a fantastic job (pun intended)! This movie is offbeat fun for children and adults.

As part of my flight to Boston in preparation for our camp, American Airlines had this movie as an option for in-flight entertainment. Given its placement on my watchlist, I figured I would be opportunistic. What do I think?To start with, this film is written in a way that puts it at the middle ground between children's and adult's animation. It adapts Dahl's children's novel into something a tad more heavy-hearted. I won't talk about the story too much since it succeeded in adapting the novel, but its additions (such as the capture of Kristofferson) are written in a way that actually work out in its favor. Our characters benefit from this too, with the combination of familiarity from the novel and somewhat modern twists to their personality (such as Kristofferson's flair for meditation). It actually seems that both our protagonists and antagonists can be sympathized with; out of mere nature, the former want their food and the latter want to keep them away. While the Foxes can be summed up as the usual family of 3, I enjoyed Rat's threatening demeanor, Petey's music, and Kylie's comic stare. What really strengthens the characters, however, is the believable and spot-on voice acting. It fits both the cartoonish influence of Dahl's novel for some characters and the different aim of this movie for others. The stop motion environments feel like they are very comparable to Aardman's work, with the detail on the fields and locations, the unique character models. Like Kubo and the Two Strings, the animation possesses surprising fluidity in the movements of both characters and objects, which is wonderful for its assortment of action/peril scenes.This isn't really a "children's" movie as much as it is a family movie. Children will enjoy the cute animals and the similarities to Dahl's work, while adults will enjoy the action, humor, and less light-hearted tone. It's worth 87 minutes of anyone's time, really, and I'll be cussed if anyone didn't end up having a good thing to say about it. OK, maybe once was enough...

Wes Anderson has done it again with this superbly crafted stop motion animation. Expertly scripted, clever and quirky, Fantastic Mr. Fox is "cus-ing"? brilliant. Funny and accessible for all ages with a soundtrack that is spot on, you get everything you have come to expect for a Wes Anderson film - it all just works together quite perfectly. The usual big names help bring Anderson's script to life, especially Clooney and Schwartzman. Mr. Fox, his wife, son and nephew's lives take a dangerous turn when Mr. Fox's animal instincts turn him to crime as he takes on 3 farmers for their stock and they stop at nothing to catch him. It's cool, quirky and everything you love from a Wes Anderson film. Whether your a fan of his films or watching for the first time, this is a great bit of entertainment. I always thought this deserved the Oscar for Best animated feature in 2009 but was pipped at the post by Pixar's "Up". Bizarrely my mom won't watch this film as she thinks it's strange that foxes are wearing clothes - but if you can get past that - you're in for a treat.

Animation (2/2): The animation is fantastic, at the same time it can be awkward (in a good way) and extremely full of details. At this point the movie lives up to the style of stop motion animation masterfully.Soundtrack (2/2): The track is great, each song fits perfectly into their respective scene.Acting/Direction (1.5 / 2): All the voice actors are OK, there isn't much to point out here, they neither hurt nor make the movie extraordinary. Wes Anderson's direction is interesting, with a peculiar filming style, with one or another scene coming out of the status quo. A good direction, of a good director.History (0,5 / 2): From the beginning the film try to present us with a very basic story, this is certainly not a problem, even with other animations already showing us that it is possible to do something aimed at children but adults can also watch and perceive small hidden elements behind the story. See Toy Story 3, Inside Out and etc. But even the simple "Fantastic Mr. Fox" seems to fail to do, some points take you out of the story (ex: If from the beginning he was good at digging, why was not his first plan already?). Perhaps a small positive point here is the sense of adventure, which is present and can entertain children.Comedy (0/2): Here is probably where the movie lost me. After all, what's the point of seeing a comedy that isn't funny? And I don't say that because no scene made me cry with laughter, I say this because I didn't find any scenes if you want funny, the movie fails miserably in this matter, definitely this is not a funny movie.6/10