Isle of Dogs (2018)

This review is for those seemingly few who, like me, neither love nor hate the works of Wes Anderson (the rest have no need of a review in the first place). He displays no shortage of signatures, for better, worse, or both. I had expected to wait and maybe see this on DVD, but a Meetup invitation to the limited screening before wide release in the U.S. drew me in.

In either the near future or an alternate present, the dog-hating mayor of fictional Megasaki, Japan, exiles all dogs to the aptly named Trash Island, with popular support thanks to a worrisome flu epidemic among the dogs. After half a year of barely hanging on, a quintet of adult male dogs sees a jet crash on the island. Out comes Atari, an injured 12-year-old orphan and rebellious nephew of the mayor, in search of his beloved Spots. The quintet democratically votes to try to help him, with only long-time stray Chief (Bryan Cranston) against it.

Despite the fairly crisp dialog by big-name actors (nine of them from previous Anderson flicks, including Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, and of course Bill Murray), I can't say we really get to know the other four main dogs well. They all have ironic leader-type names (including Rex, King, and Boss), so it can be hard to keep them straight. Only Duke (Jeff Goldblum) stands out to me, for always sharing rumors, true or false, leaving everyone to wonder where he gets them when he never appears to leave the group.

In large part, while the perspective keeps shifting, this is Chief's story. He has never had a high opinion of obedience or pethood, and "I bite" is something of a motto for him. But between pressure from other dogs, especially the lovely former show dog Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson), and the pathos of Atari's situation, he softens his stance. I've never found sweeter moments from Anderson.

Not to say it's a sweet story all around. Others have noted Anderson's long-time running theme of bad things happening to dogs, and I've noted a broader if not increasing pattern of grievous bodily harm in general. This is no exception. Nearly all of the island residents are at least sometimes noticeably ill or wounded. We get some indications of horrible deaths, mercifully kept off screen.

Not all is well back in Megasaki either. The mayor is a tyrant; his majordomo, Major Domo, is worse. They give a platform for dissent but show it no respect, going to any length to quash scientific efforts to make dogs safe around humans. You'd think more citizens would miss their pets. Alas, Coco isn't the only recent animation in which some antagonists hate what almost no one in the audience would.

If you were expecting another Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is my personal favorite Anderson film, I'm afraid this is less family-friendly, with a PG-13. It doesn't even replace the occasional cuss words with "cuss." I have to wonder about Anderson fans who claim that his movies are nothing if not cute; even when they involve kids and/or animals, many anti-cute things happen. If it's supposed to be funny, well, no wonder I've never loved an Anderson piece overall. I prefer the more innocent side of his quirkiness.

That said, I do like a few aspects of IoD better than FMF. Apart from the aforementioned sweetness, it's more coherent, with no loose strings. The animation quality has improved (plus, the animals have an excuse for looking a bit ratty this time), and it still sets a new record for longest stop-action film, without feeling overly long. Interestingly, whenever characters appear on TV (always black and white for some reason), it switches to what I take to be cel animation.

Now to address the elephant in the room. There's no plot-important reason for a Japanese setting; Anderson just wanted it. I guess having the humans speak a different, frequently untranslated language helps remind us of the difficulties the dogs have in understanding more than a few words. Many viewers have objected to the prevalence of one stereotype after another (e.g., baths, a baseball team called the Dragons) and the role of an American exchange student (Greta Gerwig) as the main pro-dog champion in Megasaki, but I'm not sure how actual Japanese people react to it. Me, I'd take a little more offense as a cat person, except that I think neither the perceived insult to cats nor the cultural political incorrectness matters much in the context of a movie so patently absurd. I merely rolled my eyes and moved on.

My mixed opinions of Anderson remain unrevised, but I consider IoD one of his better efforts. It presents a lot of the same old things and yet enough different things to be worth remembering.