Isle of Dogs

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: March 23, 2018

8.0	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 529 Ratings

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Drew185Apr 13, 2018

Barking up the wrong tree

Isle of Dogs is lost at sea. It drowns in its own self-indulgence. And sinks to darker depths than it can withstand. Isle of Dogs is a stop motion animated movie that looks and feels like Fantastic Mr. Fox and manyBarking up the wrong tree

Isle of Dogs is lost at sea. It drowns in its own self-indulgence. And sinks to darker depths than it can withstand. Isle of Dogs is a stop motion animated movie that looks and feels like Fantastic Mr. Fox and many other Wes Anderson movies. But Isle of Dogs leaves behind Mr. Fox's clever humor and goes full dark on the audience. The trailers made Isle look like a humorous animated kids movie about talking dogs with a simple boy searching for lost dog storyline. This was a gross misrepresentation. Isle of Dogs is a dark meandering conspiracy drama with no momentum. It bounces from title card to title card for an hour and forty minutes, never building up any sense of natural flow. This isn't due just to the choppy, symmetrical visual style. It's due to convoluted, broken storytelling that is confusing even for adults. Kids will not enjoy this movie. There are several adult themes throughout Isle of Dogs that are not suitable for children. The movie deals several times with suicide. I know that's a big deal in Japan, but it's a very serious tragic topic that needs to be delicately addressed. There are numerous depictions and discussions of graphic animal abuse to dogs. Early on we're shown a dog skeleton and led to believe that the boy just discovered his dead dog. There is also graphic violence, and a bloody surgery scene. The plot is really a massive mess of political/corporate conspiracies that overshadow the simple search for a lost dog. And we have to discuss the bilingual dialogue. Much of the movie is in Japanese. Only part of the Japanese dialogue has subtitles. Are you kidding?! This is an American movie released in America. It must be in English or have English subtitles. But even the English dialogue is lame, overcooking the Wes Anderson style. The visual style makes it hard to take anything very seriously, despite the heavy subject matter. But there is little else to lighten the mood. And without any likable or memorable characters, it's hard to stay engaged to the end. My advice is don't bother starting the trip to the Isle of Dogs.… Expand

6 of 14 users found this helpful68

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GreatMartinApr 24, 2018

“Isle of Dogs” is a hard picture for me to write about because during a lot of it I thought it would easily rate as one of the most boring movies of the year BUT the stop-motion animation is so intriguing that the story itself is irrelevant“Isle of Dogs” is a hard picture for me to write about because during a lot of it I thought it would easily rate as one of the most boring movies of the year BUT the stop-motion animation is so intriguing that the story itself is irrelevant to what is being shown on the screen. I didn’t even try who was voicing what character because I was too busy looking at them.

The story is really simple as basically all dogs are banished to a garbage dump island and a boy goes looking for the one who was his special pet.

Upfront I am not a Wes Anderson fan and he wrote and directed this film but it is the animators who really deserve all the credit along with the production designers who make each dog expressive, interesting and fun to watch.

Not mentioning names but I do know someone who saw it and fell asleep a few times more than he normally does—and, no, it’s not Allen! Unless you love dogs and animation “Isles of Dogs” is not a film for you.… Expand

4 of 10 users found this helpful46

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mesteveJul 7, 2018

Seriously, save your money, it has the looks of a badly made 1980's japanese cartoon, but less plot than any of them had, and I think most of the people watching it were of the same opinion. By 15 minutes in, everyone was chatting with theirSeriously, save your money, it has the looks of a badly made 1980's japanese cartoon, but less plot than any of them had, and I think most of the people watching it were of the same opinion. By 15 minutes in, everyone was chatting with their friends or surfing the net on their phones or had left. Cant believe the same guy that did Mr Fox did this dreck… Expand

3 of 14 users found this helpful311

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ScraperApr 3, 2018

Wes Anderson is a shallow husk who has been making the same movie with the nearly the same cast for almost two decades now. You don't have to put Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton in everything. These movies are a labor to watch as they are soWes Anderson is a shallow husk who has been making the same movie with the nearly the same cast for almost two decades now. You don't have to put Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton in everything. These movies are a labor to watch as they are so detailed yet have so little to say in terms of sophisticated messages and mature writing. I can't watch this narcissist search for his inner-child anymore. Any action is so corny it's embarrassing to watch and the dialogue seems like it was made from magnetic poetry.… Expand

4 of 24 users found this helpful420

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HagueJul 7, 2018

"Isle of Dogs" delivers a boring and dull experience for young lings and teenager alike. The overall quality of the movie itself makes the experience presented rather blank. Not a recommended film.

1 of 6 users found this helpful15

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CikApr 17, 2018

The trailer was utter crap, and Im certain that with a doofus like shallow Wes Anderson, the actual movie is nothing more than an artistic scam.

3 of 29 users found this helpful326

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