Isle of Dogs

You know, every year there's one film that comes out which immediately strikes a tone with me due to its absolute beauty. It's gotta have a color palette that extends itself beyond the normal films and their dull gray tones, it's gotta have beautiful direction to go along with it, and, most importantly, it's got to have a story and tone that goes along with the beauty. 2016 had La La Land, 2017 had Blade Runner: 2049, and I think 2018 has Isle of Dogs.

Wes Anderson is honestly one of my favorite directors. He's doing stuff in Hollywood that a lot of directors would describe as, "too bold," or, "too out of left field," and he is not ashamed of it. Some people say it's really all hype as he focuses more on aesthetics than story sometimes, and I can see why some could say it, but honestly I think his hype is well-deserved. When your lowest RT scored film is Life Acquatic with Steve Zissou, you know you're doing something right.

Isle of Dogs is definitely something right.

What Wes Anderson has brought to the table is a really wonderful film that honestly is slowly becoming one of my favorites the more I think about it. It's got a cute and charming story, one that is really smarter than it looks on the outside, dealing with some pretty serious topics such as disease quarantine and political revolution. Some might look at this film from an outside perspective and think it's one best suited for children or something, but it's really the opposite. It engages you with a real thrill and some clever humor, but could also tug at your heart just enough.

And of course there's the obvious technical wonders. It's got a beautiful overall aesthetic this film. It's a stop-motion project, complimented by an old-fashioned Japanese anime type feel with how the colors and on-screen pop-ups feel (the film is mostly subtitled, but the subtitles keep with the overall tone of the art). One particular aspect I enjoyed is how the TV broadcasts seen in the film are hand-drawn animation, which is really clever when you think about the fact that TVs look a tad different compared to how we look in the real world. It's great stuff.

The casting, true to Wes Anderson form, honestly gets the strongest accolades from me. To name them all would be a hassle of epic proportions, so I'll name off a few that deserve the most respect. Bryan Cranston as possibly the main dog of the film, Chief, shows off his spectacular voice-acting skills, something I'm used to as a fan of the underrated series Supermansion. There's also this wonderful gaggle of dogs that support the main characters, played by greats such as Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Murray, whose humor alone could carry the entire film. And finally, the biggest props probably go to the Japanese cast, whose dramatic tone and wonderful range could honestly be my favorite cast of the entire film.

It's really odd to have a contender for my favorite film of the year so early into the year, but I took two days to really single out any and all flaws I could find with this film, and I really couldn't find any. It's a beautiful, engaging, charming film that really draws you in, and makes you love dogs...like a lot. I'll give Isle of Dogs a well-deserve 9.7/10.