Wednesday
Nov252009
Review - Fantastic Mr. Fox
November 25, 2009
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Animation is a tricky thing. There are a lot of hours, preparation and talent that go into animating something. In the case of Fantastic Mr. Fox, the work is easily doubled or tripled with the use of stop-motion and figures. This whole film is quite an accomplishment when it comes to the animation and scenery. I hope that everyone takes that into consideration when watching any animated film. I'm here to talk about this film as a whole though and there are areas outside of animation that weren't as accomplished.
The cast seems almost pitch perfect in this movie. George Clooney as Mr. Fox, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, and Jason Schwartzman as their son Ash. Bill Murray joins them as the family friend and Lawyer, Badger to help round out the talent. All of them are quite good, and fit their characters very well but I felt like I couldn't get past the voice talent. I kept seeing George Clooney voicing Mr. Fox versus just seeing Mr. Fox and it took me out of the film a little. I found that Jason Schwartzman easily stole the show and a couple scenes though. He got a lot of the funnier moments in the movie. Still, he like the rest of the cast fell into the trap of being a big name actor playing a character rather than just being the character.
Creeping slowly by was the story. It never really seemed to lift off the ground and felt like a quirky attempt at being funny (this is a Wes Anderson film). There wasn't really any overall moral to the story, at least not a great one. The film really seemed to try and aim between the adult and child genre of films and ended up hitting a target closer to the adult in my opinion. The story had its moments though, and did have a couple redeeming qualities. Again I felt like Jason Schwartzman's character stole the show and really tried to bring it back to a kids film. He might have been a little unsuccessful though.
There's something fantastic about this movie. Well, not really, I just wanted to use that line. Really it's just a fun couple chuckles and giggles, with a warm heart but no real soul. Fun movie to watch, great flick for American Thanksgiving but overall, besides the animation, this movie was just ok for me. If you’re a fan of stop motion animation, it's a must watch. Otherwise, it wouldn't hurt taking a date to this one this weekend or maybe renting it next Thanksgiving.
3/5
...
Animation is a tricky thing. There are a lot of hours, preparation and talent that go into animating something. In the case of Fantastic Mr. Fox, the work is easily doubled or tripled with the use of stop-motion and figures. This whole film is quite an accomplishment when it comes to the animation and scenery. I hope that everyone takes that into consideration when watching any animated film. I'm here to talk about this film as a whole though and there are areas outside of animation that weren't as accomplished.
The cast seems almost pitch perfect in this movie. George Clooney as Mr. Fox, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, and Jason Schwartzman as their son Ash. Bill Murray joins them as the family friend and Lawyer, Badger to help round out the talent. All of them are quite good, and fit their characters very well but I felt like I couldn't get past the voice talent. I kept seeing George Clooney voicing Mr. Fox versus just seeing Mr. Fox and it took me out of the film a little. I found that Jason Schwartzman easily stole the show and a couple scenes though. He got a lot of the funnier moments in the movie. Still, he like the rest of the cast fell into the trap of being a big name actor playing a character rather than just being the character.
Creeping slowly by was the story. It never really seemed to lift off the ground and felt like a quirky attempt at being funny (this is a Wes Anderson film). There wasn't really any overall moral to the story, at least not a great one. The film really seemed to try and aim between the adult and child genre of films and ended up hitting a target closer to the adult in my opinion. The story had its moments though, and did have a couple redeeming qualities. Again I felt like Jason Schwartzman's character stole the show and really tried to bring it back to a kids film. He might have been a little unsuccessful though.
There's something fantastic about this movie. Well, not really, I just wanted to use that line. Really it's just a fun couple chuckles and giggles, with a warm heart but no real soul. Fun movie to watch, great flick for American Thanksgiving but overall, besides the animation, this movie was just ok for me. If you’re a fan of stop motion animation, it's a must watch. Otherwise, it wouldn't hurt taking a date to this one this weekend or maybe renting it next Thanksgiving.
3/5
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