Phil Mercer

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Fantastic Mr Fox

 

My favourite director is back and this time he has gone all stop motion.

I think it takes a brave man to try and turn the huge and distinctive imagination of Roald Dahl in to something celluloid, especially when that person has such a distinctive style himself.

The animators were all based in London and the voices are from all over. George Clooney taking the lead with Meryl Streep as Mrs Fox and then the Anderson usuals of Bill Murrey and Owen Wilson and a myriad of others appearing as well.

The story is recognisable but souped up a bit. Mr Fox has settled down with his family, but wants just one more challenge and with his friend Kylie, sets off to rattle the cages of the local famers Boggis Bunce and Bean. They don't like that very much, so the battle is on.

You can expect the usual slightly surreal and very casual approach to dialogue that is Andersons way, but the animation and the look and feel are very much what is expected from a Roald Dahl story. It took me a little while to realise that unlike any other version of a Roald Dahl, the language is very grown-up (ie fruity!) but its been done with just one word. Cus! It appears alot. I'm still undescided if that worked or not.

Fantastic Mr Fox is a great evening 0ut. Cheeky, funny, beautifully stuck together and wonderfully comic in its timing. Wes Anderson is back on form and I reckon Roald Dahl would have been happy as well.

Labels: Film Movie

# posted by Phil @ 11:47 pm

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