welcome to mojo at the movies I am
Rebecca and with me as always is
resident movie reviewer Eric Cohen and
he is asking the question does Isle of
Dogs live up to its cast you’re asking
it I am asking that question he’s
answering that question why do you ask
is it possibly because the cast is super
static Ed Norton
Bryan Cranston Jeff Goldblum Greta
Gerwig Frances McDormand Bill Murray
obvious memory obviously exactly spouts
Joe Henson Harvey Keitel Yoko Ono you
know the list goes on so it doesn’t live
up to its cast I’d say yeah but it’s not
because of the kid this is a good movie
but it’s not because of the cast per se
that’s interesting because that’s quite
a cast well they bring life to it but
it’s an animated film I think that this
movie works because it’s Wes Anderson
working in animation now I have to say a
bit of a heartache I’m not a huge Wes
Anderson fan especially his most recent
movies I loved the early stuff I loved
Rushmore I loved the Royal Tenenbaums
and Zissou was pretty good and then you
know Darjeeling I kind of started saying
I walked ahead of Moonrise Kingdom how’d
she take it and then grand Budapest I
thought was my chemistry for you too
much that’s that’s exactly the point is
that I find his movies is all too often
too much style the substance suffers the
humanity suffers because you know he’s
basically taking these characters and
trying to you know make them so inhuman
in a certain way like everything is so
symmetrical in so meticulous that to
skip ahead a little bit there’s a making
of that I’ll talk about later for this
movie where some of the animators talk
about how they’re taking inanimate
objects they’re inanimate objects but we
have to bring life to them and I find
that all too often Wes Anderson’s movies
are the opposite where they’re taking
real human figures and taking the life
out of them so for me it’s really nice
to see him doing animation and I loved
did you see fantastic
that’s technical Fox I didn’t okay that
was for me the quintessential Wes
Anderson because he’s freed from
constraints he can work he can create
the worlds that he wants and he’s not
kind of he’s not constrained by you know
the physics and and you know logic and
logic and exactly you know here are a
bunch of dogs I guess we need to talk
about the stories right this is a group
of dogs and the dogs are being exiled
from this city in the isle of misfit
toys no the trash island basically huh
because they’ve been infected with a
fake disease called canine flu by a
mayor an evil mayor Kobayashi who he’s a
cat guy he doesn’t like dogs
he hates dogs and so he kind of gives
all the dogs this disease and then sends
them off to live in exile on this island
and then you know a bunch of dogs find
each other and realize what’s going on
and and they you know they try and get
back to to life the story itself is a
little bit secondary it’s really just
about how these characters interact and
this is the perfect opportunity for Wes
Anderson to really be himself right now
something I know that a few years ago
people were kind of going on about if
Wes Anderson had directed X movie right
I’ve done it as well so if some would
would this movie have succeeded as much
for you had it been directed by someone
else no I think this is exactly where he
is at his best and I don’t think anyone
could have pulled it off as well maybe
maybe a Richard Linklater because he’s
worked in animation before and kind of
you know the you know human foibles and
the small the nuances of human
interaction but what’s interesting is
that at a press conference I think this
week or recently Wes Anderson addressed
those videos of you know what if Wes
Anderson had directed this in that and
you know one of the big ones was what if
Wes Anderson directed a Star Wars and so
he said this week if I had directed the
Star Wars I think it would have been
like the Millennium Falcon breaks down
and it’s just the the crew waiting for
it to be fixed and so that’s you know
when he takes an approach like that and
he takes a subject and
works is kind of Wes Anderson magic I
think this is a perfect example it’s
cute it’s child like it’s a little bit
flimsy in terms of storyline like it
doesn’t you know it’s entertaining to
watch but you know I’m not sure that
there’s a there’s a very deep message in
some ways yes in some ways it’s a little
bit political yeah I don’t see an a Wes
Anderson movie to really kind of ponder
you go to be washed over by the
experience right does this hit the
typical Wes Anderson marks you know
really every distinct dialogue symmetry
absurd dialogue deadpan delivery and
that’s again you know to answer the
question we first started with the the
cast they’re all when when Ed Norton is
talking it’s so ed Norton when bill burr
yeah I when I watch the trailer I was
like this is Jax or whatever you know
from Fight Club yeah yeah and was very
cool I mentioned also this behind the
scenes so it was done in VR and it’s
very cool because each of the characters
each of the voice actors is talking to
you as in character as their dog but if
you turn around you see all the
animators at work doing all the stops
your call so it’s really it’s well done
it’s well thought out you know maybe
maybe this movie will be groundbreaking
for like bringing VR to behind the
scenes stuff oh I think that’s true
absolutely and it’s a very cool company
that did it called Felix and Paul they
did inside the White House which was a
very cool VR experience and I do find
that you know this is the kind of movie
I think Wes Anderson fans will like this
I think even someone like me who doesn’t
love all of his movies enjoyed it you
know like when the when the dogs are
fighting and you have the kind of arts
and crafts you know when there’s like
fight and there’s like a cloud and you
know a snout coming out here and a hand
coming out there the way they treat all
this kind of stuff which he wouldn’t be
able to do in the human world is
perfectly achievable in this world is it
for kids at all that’s
good question so you know my son is
three and a half I don’t think I think
it would go right over his head
I think it’s entertaining enough to
watch so that most kids would would like
it but it’s it is for adults the way
fantastic mr. Franks well that’s sounds
I mean I watched the trailer and I was
very intrigued and I hadn’t been before
so and if you love dogs
this is you know yeah because they loved
ah I love dogs dog yes this is a movie
for dog lovers and you know humans of
all ages all right well I’ll have to
check that out
for the love of dogs for the thanks for
watching guys seen SM an outbreak of dog
flu ripped through the city of Mecca
sake
mayor Kobayashi issues emergency orders
calling for a hasty quarantine trash
island becomes an exiled colony the Isle
of Dogs
I don’t think I can stomach any more of this garbage