I like some of Wes Anderson’s films: “The Royal Tannenbaums” and “Rushmore,” mainly for their quirkiness. I also dislike some: “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and “The Darjeeling Limited,” mainly because of their quirkiness. So it was with some anticipation and trepidation that I saw “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” Unfortunately, this movie falls into the latter category and I’m still trying to discover why. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is an adaptation of a 1970 Roald Dahl story, using stop-motion and credible voice talent. While much of this production is engaging, the humor is uneven and the story grows repetitive, making this movie seem longer than 90 minutes. And it really seems more of an adult movie than one for children.
The film’s central theme revolves around a mid-life crisis and how it should be handled. Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney), a former chicken thief, has settled down, married his love, Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep), had a son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and became a journalist. But he still yearns for the adrenalin-rush of his former life so he hatches a scheme to raid three loathsome farmers, not realizing the lengths they will go to retaliate. Also a story thread is Ash’s resentment of his father’s admiration of the athletic prowess of a cousin (Eric Anderson), making parenting a secondary theme. Prolonged chases and fights are the least interesting while the interactions of the various characters make for the best moments. And Mr. Fox’s universe is a fully realized vision of yellow and orange with its warm cottages and the almost colorless sterile underground industrial corridors. Nonetheless, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” falls short when it comes to evoking sufficient emotion; you should care what happens to the protagonist. 11/14/09
1 comment:
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" has some interesting characters and a rather ordinary story. Stealing chickens was Mr. Fox nature and that was the only natural thing in the "toon". everything else, all other relationships and narratives were either political or psychological in nature. The wealthy farmers seemed to represent the greedy corporate world (how dare you grow crops and sell them in the super market) and the relationship with Mr. Fox and his son seemed to come straight from family counseling horror stories. My recommendation is "skip it".
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