When I first saw Fantastic
Mr. Fox at the cinema in 2009 I fell asleep. I think this is the only time
I’ve ever slept through a film and although there were mitigating circumstances
I still feel bad as Wes Anderson is one of my favourite Directors. I’ve loved
all of his pre Mr. Fox films and Moonrise Kingdom is one of my favourite
films of 2012 so far. One of the reasons I fell asleep three years ago was
because I was bored by the film but due to my love of Anderson ’s work I felt the need to go back
and reassess it. Unfortunately my first viewing experience was very similar to
my second; the film bored me and I consider it Anderson ’s worst film by quite some distance.
Based on Roald Dahl’s book of the same name the plot centres
upon a fox (George Clooney) who despite promising his wife (Meryl Streep) that
he would stop killing farmer’s chickens for a living, can’t resist one final
spree in which he goes for three local farms, run by the meanest farmers
around.
My main problem with the film is that Anderson ’s usually witty script is severely
lacking here. The tone is typically existential and melancholic but I didn’t
get the emotional thrust that I normally experience, perhaps in part because
the animation limits the facial expressions that usually accompany Anderson films. Take Bill
Murray for instance who has appeared in seven out of Anderson ’s eight films, including this one. Murray brings a trademark
deadpan to most of his roles; coupled with mild annoyance at his surroundings
but here you don’t get that because expression is limited by the animation. The
same can be said about George Clooney’s central character who has two
expressions, cheeky smile and normal. Because the script isn’t as sharp, witty
or funny as a lot of Anderson and co writer Noah Baumbach’s other work and because
the actors aren’t able to express the lines in a satisfying way, the film falls
flat.
The problem with the script stems from the fact that I didn’t
really care for any of the characters, least of all the Fantastic Mr. Fox. His
trademark click, whistle thing really bugged me and I found his whole attitude
confusing and annoying. Side characters weren’t really given enough time to
allow the audience to become emotionally involved and the normally superb
stilted conversations just didn’t work for me. The plan, escape and retaliation
parts of the plot didn’t interest me although I did like the change to family
dynamic that Eric Chase Anderson’s Kristofferson character bought and wish that
had been explored in greater detail. The quite incredible cast which features
the likes of Clooney, Streep, Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Defoe, Owen
Wilson, Michael Gambon, Adrien Brody and Brian Cox are given no chance to shine
as the script isn’t good enough and the animation blocks all expression. For
such a talented cast this is a huge shame because one of the best things about
Wes Anderson’s films is that he is able to gather together large and wonderful
casts and usually get them all on the same page, delivering fine performances.
I’ve talked about how I felt that the animation limited the
actor’s ability to convey the script but it did actually look very good. It
reminded me of the kids TV shows from the 60s like Andy Pandy, Trumpton and
Tales from the Riverbank and featured Anderson ’s
usual colour palate of 1970s browns, yellows and oranges mixed with flashes of
bright, bold colour. The stop motion also had a pleasing roughness to it while
the camera movements remained very Anderson-esque. The design was also pleasing
in parts, most notably for me the human town which had a quaint English feel. The
score was also very good. I really liked Jarvis Cocker’s ‘Petey’s Song’ and the
soundtrack mixes original compositions by Alexandre Despat (The Kings Speech, The Queen, Benjamin
Button, The Painted Veil, A Prophet) with rock songs from the likes of The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys. The soundtrack is definitely
one of the highlights for me.
In the end I was really disappointed by this film and now
have been on two occasions. I’m a huge fan of Wes Anderson and it pains me to
say I didn’t like the film as I’m a strong proponent of his work but I thought Fantastic Mr. Fox was dull and
uninspiring.
4/10
GFR 6/10
GFR 6/10
It's definitely not Anderson's best (Rushmore in my opinion), and I think his presence is missing from the film because he apparently wasn't around very much during it's production, or so I hear. Good review, all good points, and the only film I've ever slept through was The Orphanage, but that had been after a long day at work and a stodgy meal, and I think the cinema was a bit warmer and comfier than usual. Plus, that film is quite slow.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one to sleep through a film. My girlfriend had just finished a night shift, woke me up early and we went. It was also really warm. I agree that Rushmore is excellent but my favourites are Tenenbaums and Darjeeling.
DeleteI also didn't like this, though I'm not familiar with Wes Anderson's movies. I thought it was very confused; it didn't know whether it wanted to be American or British. The over-use of pseudo-swearing was also stupid I thought; quite disappointing.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah!! The whole 'cuss' thing. That pissed me off too. and i know what you mean about the American/British thing. US animals, UK people? I was really surprised to read that the film was well received by critics. I think it's got about 7.6 on IMDb.
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