Isle of Dogs

Rex, Duke, King, Boss, and Chief have been banished to Trash Island by Kobayashi, the despotic new mayor of Megasaki City in a Japan that appears to have suffered some future shock.  The five names belong to dogs.  They've been removed from general society due to the proliferation of a dog flu virus.  Possibly a convenient reason masking that the Megasakis prefer cats anyway?  Another dog named Spots was the first to be transported to the land of abandoned factories and amusement parks.  His master: a young boy named Atari, nephew of the mayor, Kobayashi.

Atari hijacks a plane to Trash Island and attempts to find his pet.  After Rex and company decide not to eat the boy, they accompany him on his search.  It is filled with peril and droll commentary.  What of that cage with a dog skeleton? Is Chief really as antisocial and vicious as he says he is? Have scientists back on the mainland found a cure? Will those canines ever stop sneezing?

The current ISLE OF DOGS is writer/director Wes Anderson's second foray into the wonderfully warm and retro world of stop motion animation.  His script has a linear (save a few flashbacks) and eventful plot. There are some scary moments for the very young but otherwise is a family friendly, typically cerebral and verbose movie from one of the most imaginative and eccentric cinematic artists currently working.  As with THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX, Anderson realizes another charming, offbeat tale of misaligned relationships, with genuine warmth that is almost always cloaked in cold cleverness.  As distinctive as the director's penchant for frame symmetry and ornate set decoration is his character sketching and their dialogue.  My favorite this time out:  "It's a distant uncle's worst nightmare!"

The attention to detail is positively astonishing here.  Every shot is crammed with minutiae; this should be quite a film worthy of frame by frame study.  The animation gives near three dimensions to animal hair bustled by breezes and fleas and ticks crawling through it.   Anderson depicts Japan not as a real place but one inspired by classic films, by someone's idea of a near future dystopia as imagined by Akira Kuwosawa and others. The charges of a poorly and offensively created Japanese culture for the story are questionable.  I guess you could make the case against the plethora of cliches and yet another "white savior" climax, but ISLE OF DOGS is a singular work of art not to be deconstructed for political (though there are some curious present day parallels) or sociologic themes.  The movie is best appreciated as a manifestation of a mind gone wild, allowed to indulge light and sometimes darker whims, without the boundaries of realism or even political correctness.  Mostly through the filter of Western sensibility.  And it's very funny.

The impressive voice cast features numerous Anderson regulars like Ed Norton, Bill Murray, and Jeff Goldblum, as well as Bryan Cranston and Greta Gerwig.  Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartman worked with Anderson and Kunichi Nomura on the original story.   This won't be everyone's idea of a cute animated film, and Anderson fans have a head start.