Isle of Dawgs (2018)
Bekkah:
I’m going to gloss over the cultural appropriation in my review (just like Wes Anderson did when making the movie) because I’m sure people who write about it professionally have already done a much better job. But anyway, I like this movie, but I don’t love it the same way I love, oh, say The Life Aquatic (which I watched again over the weekend). This movie has all the quirk and symmetry of a Wes Anderson flick, but it doesn’t have a ton of heart. There are a bunch of almost shocking dark moments, but I feel like the dogs were surprisingly one-note, though they did capture some of Jeff’s patented eye-darts in Duke. The kids should have been a little more exciting to root for. But I think the claymation was perfect and there was so much emotion in some of the dogs eyes! Too bad all the bitches also had basically no personality. Learn to write women better, Wes.
Danya:
I like dogs, and somehow this like is so deeply held that I could not suspend my belief to even understand the motivation of why anybody would want to get rid of them. I do think this is my failing, and not Wes’ but STILL. Ok, maybe I need more imagination. The whole movie was art and that’s enough reason to watch it. Not enough ladies, not enough Jeff. Cats again getting a bad rap, despite ALSO BEING AWESOME. Still, this fable is better than that movie where everyone sucks and sleeps with their therapist.
6/10 Goldbarks
Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.
Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson (story by), Roman Coppola (story by)
Stars: Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton
