When you enter the world of a Wes Anderson film, you can bet the story will be eccentric but told with dry humor and meticulous detail. There is no other film like ‘Isle of Dogs’ and that’s what makes it a treat. It is executed in stop-motion animation. It’s primarily a coming-of-age story about a boy’s search for his lost dog. When you think about the intricate design of the puppets, it is astonishing how each dog is brought to life frame by frame. Anderson brilliantly uses canines as a way of making a statement against isolationism and scapegoating immigrants for the ills of society. Don’t worry. “All barks have been rendered into English.”
Anderson loves to examine the transition from boyhood to manhood in his films. This is evident in his 2012 masterpiece ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ and 2014 opus ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel.’ With the help of screenwriters Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman, the dystopian fable is set 20 years into the future. The Japanese city of Megasaki has reached a saturation point with its dog population. After an outbreak of dog flu (“snout fever”), the corrupt Mayor Kobayashi (voiced by Kunichi Nomura), exiles all dogs to a garbage dump known as Trash Island. He happens to be a cat lover too. We get to know a group of alpha dogs on the island. They are led by Chief (Bryan Cranston), a feisty stray, King (Bob Balaban), a washed-up dog actor, Boss (Bill Murray), a little league mascot, Rex (Edward Norton), who misses the good life and Duke (Jeff Goldblum), the gossip hound. The pack sticks together for survival and will fight rivals for leftover scraps of food crawling with maggots.
Their world is upended when a little Japanese boy hijacks a prop plane to search for his dog Spots (Live Schreiber), an elite guard dog to the Mayor’s 12-year-old nephew Atari (Koyo Rankin). When he crash lands his plane, the dogs decide to help him in his quest. Although Atari only speaks in Japanese, the dogs speak in perfect English. The dogs’ quick-witted humor is part of the fun. The attention to detail is amazing. The dogs sneeze and have ticks crawling around their fur. The dogs fight in a dust cloud. Your kids might be enchanted by the visuals but it carries a PG-Rating for a reason. This is definitely an animated feature for adults. Did I mention that a dog gets his ear bitten off and there is a kidney operation? Atari even walks around with a piece of scrap metal sticking out of his skull from the plane crash.
Another cool aspect of the story is how Atari bonds with the scrappy dog Chief, “I bite.” All of the voice-over actors are good but Cranston stands out head and shoulders among the pack. He also gets to flirt with the purebred showdog Nutmeg (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). He asks her if she knows any tricks. She tells him that she will show him a few when she gets to know him better. There is something so endearing about how Anderson captures the true spirit of dogs. They are man’s best friend due to their undying loyalty and companionship. There are too many other actors to mention in the film but two other important female voice-overs are Greta Gerwig as a foreign exchange student leading the pro-dog movement and Frances McDormand as an interpreter. There is even a voice over from Yoko Ono (yes, that Yoko Ono!) as an assistant to the scientist working on a cure for dog flu.
When you surrender to the offbeat world Anderson creates, you will be treated to a heartwarming story. His signature style uses plenty of deadpan humor framed symmetrically. He takes the viewer to some very dark places but there is a beauty to the bleakness of it all. When the taiko drums begin to pound, it’s easy to get immersed into Japanese culture. Once again, Anderson has created a cinematic masterpiece. Put ‘Isle of Dogs’ on your must-see list. It’s now playing the arthouse circuit.
