I suspect I would have liked Isle of Dogs better had it been my first exposure to the work of Wes Anderson. I’ve certainly enjoyed his work in the past, but as I get older, his style and flourish have become a pastiche of his own work. I sometimes wish he could break free of the invented hipsterdom he’s known for to make a truly original movie – one that doesn’t include title cards, semi-obscure pop music, or his go-to cast of actors. The results, I fear, would be disastrous, but I’d like to see him give it a try all the same. I didn’t hate Isle of Dogs (if I did my 4-year-old daughter would never forgive me), but I found it to be more of the same from Anderson. If I had to compare it to his other animated feature, the clear winner would be 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, of which it shares many thematic similarities in addition to the obvious choice of medium. No, it isn’t bad, it’s just tired – and I feel like I’ve seen it before. Isle of Dogs is at its best when exploring the nature of instinct and emotional bonds, and at its worst when exploring culture.
To be honest, I didn’t like Isle of Dogs at all the first time I saw it. Subsequently, I ended up watching it several more times due to the love the above-mentioned 4-year-old has developed for it. There is something endearing about watching a film with a child who truly appreciates a work beyond the usual reasons that children like movies (for the record, her other favorite movies are Coraline and Black Panther). I guess you could say it grew on me and may grow even more as I’m sure it will make its way into our DVD player again. Or I might get really, really sick of it. Who knows.
The positives of Isle of Dogs just barely outweigh the negatives. Visually it’s stunning. The animation style and attention to the smallest of details are commendable and should be praised in the highest order. I have always had the utmost respect for the art of stop-motion animation (going back to when I was a kid) and the characterizations Anderson has come up with walks a fun line between cartoonish and realistic. In close-up, the details and life-like aspects really shine, but then get equally goofy (in a good way) in fight scenes and long shots. It’s an interesting juxtaposition that works for the story and the tone of the film.
On the negative side (besides the usual Anderson clichés and overused stylistic embellishments) is the oversimplification and “one-note” depiction of Japanese culture. Movies have been guilty of this sort of thing since their start but in 2018 I would expect a bit more nuance. Anderson has chosen to exemplify the basest aspects of a nation rich with history and contributions, then water it down even further into simple stereotypes with no depth or reason. It’s as if he picked up a Social Studies book from the 1970s and copied all the pictures he saw. I have no doubt this is meant as a tribute rather than appropriation (or worse), but it comes across as lazy. My suggestion would be to stick to the eccentricities you know, Wes.
Isle of Dogs is Anderson’s worst film. But, I’ve mostly enjoyed his other offerings, making that a very weighted statement. The amount of time spent on “American exchange student Tracy Walker” and her abusive and obsessive tendencies could have been cut in half to allow for more development of some of the other dogs, but it is what it is. The voice cast is well-chosen, and everyone does their jobs, but the cultural awkwardness leaves everything but the animation rather flat.
James is a writer, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.