How much Wes could Wes Anderson Wes if Wes Anderson could Wes Anderson? Turns out, this much Wes.
Isle of Dogs sets itself in near future Japan, where dogs have been outlawed to Trash Island due to “Dog Flu”. We follow the trial the dogs (and humans that join them along the way) as they attempt to break through the anti-dog government propaganda and correct the bad reputation that dogs have been given.
The entire movie is beautifully animated with hand crafted stop-motion miniatures, which helps with the fair-fetched plot. Each scene is incredibly intricate, allowing for multiple viewings just to pick up on all the little details in the background. Even particle effects such as dog hair, explosions and smoke are all sublimely rendered using fur and cotton. The animation is timed perfectly with the soundtrack, even past the credits to the very closing card.
The characters are too numerous to name and most aren’t relevant to much of the story. Many of the supporting cast only have a small part to play just to show the different styles of dogs, which as a person not fully into dogs, did get confusing after a while. The cast list is filled with AAA actors, some of which didn’t have nearly enough screen time. Tilda Swindon had all of about 2 lines as the “dog that can understand TV”.
There’s the Mayor’s right hand man, a sort of Lurch that isn’t given much of a back story but is clearly the anti-dog puttetmaster.
Most characters are Japanese, speaking what I can assume is accurate Japanese. There’s a translator for press events for Mayor Kobayashi which makes sense but for the most part the dialogue isn’t subtitled, which leads to facial only communication, a nice idea as we take the eyes and ears of a dog. I can’t imagine this technique worked too well for a Japanese speaking audience.
Out of nowhere about half way through, an American foreign exchange student shows up and becomes the hero the country needs to save itself from itself. Why they couldn’t have just used one of the numerous Japanese characters I don’t know, but it felt a little off.
This leads onto the poorer elements of the film, the writing and plot. It’s established that the Dog Flu was created by Mayor Kobayashi as he’s a cat lover and wanted to rid the world of dogs. It’s fairly ambiguous whether the people of Megasaki City are onboard with this. A cure for the flu has been found by I assume the same people who made it in the first place, which begs the question of why it took so long. Nevertherless the Mayor wants nothing to do with it and calls the extermination of all the dogs on Trash Island. Eventually the lead scientist is assassinated and a rebellion takes place (led primarily by the aforementioned American). On a dime, the Mayor reverses his decision and decides not to enact his er, final solution to the dog problem, however his Lurch-like right hand man literally pushes the button himself to start dog extermination. And waddya know, a Deus Ex machina shows up, one of the hacker kids from earlier had rigged the exterminators to kill the humans instead. The movie on the whole was grim in tone with dark humour that never quite hit. The audience never laughed and I maybe cracked a single “at least they tried” smile. The biggest laugh came during the trailers for “Show Dogs” when the narrator bodly claimed “From the studio that bought you Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3”.
In all, “Isle of Dogs” is a beautiful work of art let down by the convoluted plot and underdeveloped characters.