Read Mixed User Reviews for Isle of Dogs

4

skobbApr 4, 2018

This is one of those movies that I wanted to like a LOT, and I DID like it...kinda sorta. There's much to admire, especially in the area of visualization. The problem is that...well, I just kept falling asleep, and so did my wife. It pains meThis is one of those movies that I wanted to like a LOT, and I DID like it...kinda sorta. There's much to admire, especially in the area of visualization. The problem is that...well, I just kept falling asleep, and so did my wife. It pains me to write that it did not hold my attention very well. Is that a character flaw? Am I a bad person? If I were to sit down and read the synopsis, I'd say: "YEAH! That sounds like a cool story!" But the reality is that this movie did not fascinate me. It obviously worked for a lot of people, and -- for some reason -- that makes me happy. All in all: A creative work that may or may not enchant you.… Expand

6 of 8 users found this helpful62

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6

Brent_MarchantApr 7, 2018

Director Wes Anderson's latest film continues his practice of creating visually dazzling offerings that are long on style, overlong on story and, ultimately, short on substance. The film's clever whimsy is cute, warm and funny at times, butDirector Wes Anderson's latest film continues his practice of creating visually dazzling offerings that are long on style, overlong on story and, ultimately, short on substance. The film's clever whimsy is cute, warm and funny at times, but it becomes so exactingly overwhelming as the story plays out that it becomes tiresome and exasperating long before the credits roll. What's more, the film's clumsily structured narrative and screenplay tell the story in such a disjointed and convoluted way that it's easy to lose interest, despite the superb stop motion animation eye candy. Meticulously crafted it is; engaging, unfortunately, it isn't.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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5

TVJerryApr 10, 2018

The latest from Wes Anderson (and his 2nd stop-motion animation after "The Fantastic Mr. Fox") takes place in Japan, where a plague has caused all dogs to be transferred to Trash Island. When one boy comes to rescue his pet, it starts aThe latest from Wes Anderson (and his 2nd stop-motion animation after "The Fantastic Mr. Fox") takes place in Japan, where a plague has caused all dogs to be transferred to Trash Island. When one boy comes to rescue his pet, it starts a journey that ends in the expected. As is usually the case with Anderson, the art direction is imaginative, inventive and delightful. The story starts with a quirky energy that's fun, but about half way thru, things get a bit precious and the pace starts to lag. This is filmmaker with a singular style, but it sometimes becomes too self-indulgent. Still, Anderson showcases his unique approach to storytelling, character and visual style.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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4

CharlieSGApr 18, 2018

I enjoyed the basic theme of the story but this was still at a level of an 'Afternoon Special", with good old school Sinbad animation. Really nothing special about this movie although as I watched it, I got the idea that maybe I was just notI enjoyed the basic theme of the story but this was still at a level of an 'Afternoon Special", with good old school Sinbad animation. Really nothing special about this movie although as I watched it, I got the idea that maybe I was just not intellectual gifted enough to appreciate the direction of the whole deal.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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6

TrevorsViewApr 26, 2018

Chucking away people’s furry companions into a castaway of our own junk sounds unpleasant. If the government decided to pass such an act in real life, it’d be no laughing manner. However, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs explains his ownChucking away people’s furry companions into a castaway of our own junk sounds unpleasant. If the government decided to pass such an act in real life, it’d be no laughing manner. However, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs explains his own unpleasant reality for the near future in a strong sense of repugnantly clever dark humor.

You maybe heard Japan historically made holy good fortune symbols out of cats: the maneki-neko (Fortune Cat) and the “Nambu Jinja” (Cat God Shrine) to name a few, well once upon a time, feline lovers declared war on canines, beneath Mayor Kobayashi’s command, due to an incurable dog flu and snout fever conspiracy theory, alongside canine overpopulation. Therefore, those dogs must live off rotten apple cores in Trash Island while everyone pushing the quarantine strokes a stink-eyed kitty in his lap. In this ominous future, dogs behave like humans, and humans behave like dogs, all in an inventive level of turning dogmatic excrement into gold more movies should reach.

The set pieces diverge across modern Japan’s high-contrast imagery that brims the manageable branding of Harōkiti (Hello Kitty) into the monotone, not-so Kawaii (A Radiant Face) Trash Island with many garbage cubes signifying ultimate imprisonment. Green shows up almost nowhere in this feature, causing the entire island to glow of blood-stained muddy hues much like whatever your quadruped friend may have left on the front mat. If there is anything in the real world that would normally gag your reflexes, here, it instead exhausts beauty, say for instance, an illuminated glass bottle cave that silhouettes a dog pack who rest there for the night.

Wes Anderson commands everything under his own mind game, as if he’s adapting the wartime manga series “Norakuro” (Stray Black). Claymation cinematographer Tristan Oliver uses the light scheme to artfully mimic a spotlight on Mayor Kobayashi’s control; the abandonment he details in each dense frame almost always positions pack leader Chief in center, the camera pivoting on an axis to draw our attention on each individual pooch.

Chief leaves a greater impact than any other dog or human followed throughout the story, black from living through soot his entire life, zero nametag in sight. Each of the hounds’ other nametags help you to identify their souls behind their fleas, not their imprisonment number tattoos, a lot like the following of typewriter names recorded as the holocaust victims state themselves in Schindler’s List. One of these hounds, King, flaunts whiskers curled in a pompous high-class moustache fashion, just one small example of the stop-motion dolls’ memorable designs. However, amongst the maggots Chief’s pack must consume, they undeniably do little anything plot-productive. The standard American voice actors in part hurt it further, who never sound drunk off toilet bowl fluids as this film demands.

Though Chief is an exception to the narrative flaws his pack carries; right from the start he needs a Hachikō (Eight-Affection) type hero, until Atari, a twelve-year-old in search of his guard dog, Spots, triggers a change in attitude. Although Atari has few thoughts about each dog he meets, the main relationship between himself and Chief surprisingly sweet, topped off by some handsomely animated tears built to churn your pancreas in sorrow.

In this Japanese fantasy-dystopia, captions in parentheses accompany Japanese text, dialogue mostly media translated. The dogs’ barks are translated into English, ensuring easy international adaptation. To counteract the smog of pooch anti-paradise, familiar historical images of Japan include a Neko Jinja (Cat Shrine), Taiko boys, sumo wrestling, a Nō (Talent) production, and a humorously gross seafood bento box prep sequence.

The Japanese murals here resemble toys recycled for affordable government-funded programs: a world where puppets control smaller puppets within perfect compositions that suggest political control upon whatever meticulous movement made. These fascist solutions, including robot canines built to replace regular canines, ends up less feasible than public lies, leading to few surprises why an Empire of Dogs might attempt rebellion toward the oppressive leaders’ theatrical playset.

Unlike most propaganda, Isle of Dogs turn the nation against itself in a weirdly entertaining way which safely repulses you enough to take initiative. In fact, the matter will get so out of hand as you watch this show, you’ll need to go outside, vomit, regain yourself, then ask the nearest bystander out loud: “Whatever happened to man’s best friend?”… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

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5

imthenoobJul 7, 2018

The cast does a great job making their characters come alive. Chief's story arc was touching and so satisfying to see come full circle at the end of the film. The humour was scattered in bits throughout the film, Some of it was solid but someThe cast does a great job making their characters come alive. Chief's story arc was touching and so satisfying to see come full circle at the end of the film. The humour was scattered in bits throughout the film, Some of it was solid but some just kinda falls flat. I think Wes Anderson's humour is better off in live action because it just doesn't have the same impact when animated.

A big issue for me was the plot. It wasn't interesting, It was too predictable and there were way too many subplots going on that they totally ignored the only decent thing about the film. Where this movie really strikes gold is when Atari is on the island with the dogs. That is where this movie is at it's best because you have an amazing cast, who worked great together, and you have a lot of touching, heartfelt moments during that short amount of time. Rather than deal with these stupid subplots featuring rather awful human characters, Wes should have focused more on the dogs because they're the best characters in the film.

And I do agree with a few other reviews on here as well: This movie is quite boring at times and it can nearly put you or actually put you to sleep.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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5

vahnNov 27, 2020

I...I'm kind of debated here: I can see there's a lot of passion going through this movie, there's a lot of cure and detail put into it, but at the same time it never felt it knew what it was trying to do. I feel that as much as the cure intoI...I'm kind of debated here: I can see there's a lot of passion going through this movie, there's a lot of cure and detail put into it, but at the same time it never felt it knew what it was trying to do. I feel that as much as the cure into it was plenty, it was mismanaged.

I mean let's start with the talking dogs: the movie says that the movie is focused on the dogs dialogue first, with the humans mostly talking Japanese (mostly, because some don't, for some reason), and the reason I guess was to help us relate more with the dogs rather than the humans, to let us see the PoV of the dogs....but then there's a LOT of scenes with humans talking, introducing us characters we don't know (and most likely never will), and makes the whole dog talk a weird inconsistency. I think they should've made dogs silent instead, communicate with whines and barks instead, or perhaps have subs on THEM rather than the humans, or if you're going to put a foreign speech to make us "separate" from them, well, make their presence actually NOT matter! Secondly, the story is too messy to understand: there's this boy, called Atari, who wants to find his dog who was sent to this trash island. Why was it send to trash island? Because of a disease called dog flu that attacks all dogs. Why were they sent to the island? Because the bad guy hates dog and doesn't want to heal them. This is pretty much the plot btw and there's really not much else to say: the bad guy is there, he wants to look menacing, but there's really little of him, and the other protagonist, a girl which I don't even remember the name, wants to crusade against dog hate and is the ONLY other character that doesn't speak Japanese (alongside the interpreter...which again makes no sense! Are we supposed to be seeing the dogs PoV or not?!). I guess that, unsurprisingly, the best characters are the dogs but that's only because we get to see them more. And yet it feels lacking: the main 5 dogs are pretty bland and only the black dog gets any sort of character development, then you meet the other faction, outcasts or something, who were potentially great characters on their own, which I won't spoil but they could've made an entire movie on them ALONE!. But they appear only at the end, we barely even see them, except one or two, and then they disappear.

I just don't understand what this movie was trying to do: the movie is kind of depressing but not in a good way, it just wants to be dark for the sake of dark, and the message it gives is quite mean and pretty cruel (although I'm sure that's not their intention). I assume there's a political message here but I guess I never understood it because when the movie ended I was just questioning "what did I just watch exactly?". I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. I was hoping it was a good adventure movie about finding one's dog, with SOME human interactions and human side story. Instead if tried too much of both, but not enough in my opinion.

I guess take a look but I'm not sure really. I'll probably forget it in a few days.… Expand