Wes Anderson Returns To Twee Animation In Isle Of Dogs Trailer
by Erik Amaya
Fox Searchlight has released a trailer for Isle of Dogs, director Wes Anderson’s return to animation.
The film posits a world in which all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to a vast garbage-dump called Trash Island. Atari Kobayashi, the 12-year-old ward of the corrupt Mayor, sets off alone in a miniature Junior-Turbo Prop and flies across the river in search of his bodyguard-dog, Spots. There, with the assistance of a pack of newly-found mongrel friends, he begins an epic journey that will decide the fate and future of the entire Prefecture.
It looks charming. But then all Wes Anderson films look charming. It’s only after a long time of reflection that one begins to find a wealth of faults within those films. Eventually, one is forced to sell all their Criterion Collection DVDs of his work as they no longer stand as watchable films. Of course, that could just be me. I know plenty of people who find it easier to digest Anderson’s movies.
At the very lest, Isle of Dogs has a compelling cast of voices — including F. Murray Abraham, Bob Balaban, Bud Cort, Bryan Cranston, Greta Gerwig, Jeff Goldblum, Akira Ito, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Kunichi Nomura, Edward Norton, Yoko Ono, Koyu Rankin, Liev Schreiber, Tilda Swinton, Akira Takayama and Frank Wood — and judging by the trailer, the voice acting sounds appealing. But I’ll probably still walk into this one with strong reservations.
Isle of Dogs opens on March 23rd, 2018.
