I caught a showing of Rango this past weekend (short review: great trippy visuals and a so-so story), and left with a strange and seemingly untraceable desire to rewatch one of my favorite movies of 2009 - Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox. And, boy, am I glad I did.
1 - The Fantastic Mr. Fox is rendered completely in stop-motion animation with well-detailed puppets. Thus the film looks like a product of the seventies - much like the different movies I watched as a grade-school student in an underfunded educational system. Oddly enough, the rather archaic animation created a picture that, to me, was more emotionally moving and relatable than a certain high-profile CGI picture that came out around the same time.
2 - The voice cast in The Fantastic Mr. Fox is outstanding to a man. In any other production, George Clooney would have stolen the show as the titular charismatic con-man. However, he has to keep up with stellar work from Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and even Albus Dumbledore.
3 - The relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Fox is surprisingly emotional for a stop-motion feature based on a children's book. Mrs. Fox looks her husband in the eye and tells him, "I love you, but I shouldn't have married you." That's complex stuff for what's ostensibly a kid's movie.
4 - The music, though simple, is pretty memorable. After watching the movie, I find myself singing "Boggis, Bunce, and Bean" in my head for a few days after.
And don't worry, Petey. I don't think you wrote a bad song.
5 - If nothing else, the quirky dialog carries the movie to a level higher than, say, that one animated blockbuster of 2009. Small touches (like replacing all profanity with the word "cuss") add a mild flavor to the text, while overtly bizarre lines ("I weigh less than a slice of bread") keep my giggling for days.
For the most part, I like my movies on the eccentric side, and The Fantastic Mr. Fox is exactly my kind of peculiar, which is why I'll love it forever.
Also, it's a MUCH better movie than Avatar.
4 comments:
I have never seen Avatar. Nor do I ever plan on giving anymore of my time to a Cameron blockbuster...
This has renewed my desire to see the "Fantastic Mr. Fox". I may have to netflix it this weekend.
I watched Fantastic Mr. Fox 2 weekends ago (for the 8th or 9th time), and fell in-love with it all over again! :)
xox
I saw this movie for the first time on Sunday. I must say, for a kids movie, it was able to hold my attention until the end, wondering what would become of Mr. Fox and his neighbors. I also enjoyed the use of the word CUSS in place of actual cuss words. I though that was very clever. I may have to use that in my daily conversation. :)
I just bought this movie a week or so ago. Brilliant!
Post a Comment