thompsoncory saw this?!?! WHA?????

He's living the good life in NYC. Cannes, fuckin Wes Anderson films. I get invites to the screening rooms in Manhattan all the time but I can't go.

You suck Cory

I cannot seriously believe that some who lives in NYC and attends "preview screenings" is a fan of movies when there are currently Nick Ray, Cary Grant, Coen Brothers, NY Film Critics Circle, and French New Wave retrospectives going on. Not to mention free outdoor screenings in every park on a daily basis (of good shit too....tonight, Contempt, next week: To Catch a Thief),

Old timers circuit there grandpa. You like the talkies, eh?

I go to what I can. I've definitely been to NYC-exclusive events such as the Tribeca Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, so don't count me out just yet.

Anyways, onto my thoughts on this film:

NOTE: I saw this back in April and the version was a very rough cut. A lot of the animation wasn't completed and storyboards were in place for a few sequences, but the vocal work was finished as was the musical score. I'd say it was about 60-70% fully animated.

This is one bizarre film. I honestly don't think this is going to appeal to children at all, despite the source material being primarily aimed at that demographic. It is very much a Wes Anderson film, full of dry adult humor and a lot of dialogue that will fly over the heads of a family audience. It seems catered primarily to the twenty-something demographic that have made Anderson's previous films cult classics. That being said, I've enjoyed every Wes Anderson film aside from The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, so I thought it was a very fun and entertaining film. It has a very distinct and original visual style, and feels far more realistic than any other stop-motion title I've seen before. The screenplay is sharp and most of the characters are very well-developed and interesting to watch (with the exception of Mrs. Fox, whose character has a few lines of dialogue near the end that come out of nowhere and make her seem unsympathetic). The 'heist' sequences are awesome and hilarious, and are definitely the highlight. The film also has some surprisingly moving moments near the end as well. The vocal work is pretty strong - George Clooney does a great job and Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray steal every scene their characters are in, and there are fun cameos by Owen Wilson (whose voice appears in a HILARIOUS sequence on a baseball field in the film's first act) and Anjelica Huston. Meryl Streep does the voice of Mrs. Fox, not the previously-reported Cate Blanchett - who is nowhere to be heard. Streep does well with the material but as I stated before I had some issues with the development of that character. I really hope my problems with her are addressed before the film is released. I don't see this fairing too well if its sold to a family audience this holiday season - it's too offbeat and 'indie' in style to appeal to that demographic. But if Fox Searchlight is releasing it as rumored and they market it to a college-age crowd, it could hit a cord and catch on. Regardless, it's a fun and brilliantly animated (so far) film that everyone should definitely check out this holiday season. I can't wait to see the completed version. B+

Wow can't wait, great review. From what you write it seems like this movie comes the closest to capturing the tone of Roald Dahl books.

I caught this over the weekend.

First of all, I liked it. And unlike some reviewers, I don't object to the Americanisation of British literature for the big screen. At the end of the day, it doesn't bother me if Mr Fox has an American accent. Even if it did, it's not like the film-makers can steal my copy of the original book. It's still there, safe and sound on the bookshelf. I know that purists hate unconventional adaptations, but the key thing is, the original versions are still there - so why not have a bit of fun with the material? Since we're duping material rather than recording over it, we might as well go wild.

Roald Dahl would have loved the visuals of this film. The stop motion is deliciously quaint - especially the lighting, and the bristling hairs that quiver from frame to frame - while the "sets" do a great job of setting out the self-enclosed world of the story. I especially liked how Mr Fox could see the three farms side by side from his window. I've already said "self-enclosed", but that really is a good phrase to describe both the book and this adaptation. Roald Dahl predated the kind of sprawling (but brilliant) juvenile fiction that you get today, and would have admired such a neat little gem of a film.

However, other than that, the film is very different to the source material, and the changes run far deeper than the accents. The film is American to the core, with influences as diverse as Kill Bill (Rat and his theme tune, plus the offbeat "chapter titles"), Oceans 11 (obviously), The Incredibles (i.e., Dad strains marriage by returning to life of danger and bonds with his offspring), and even (in Ash's case) "awkward teen" movies like Napoleon Dynamite or Superbad.

The humour screams droll American irony. Stock characters include a wealthy giant of a lawyer and a plump, borderline "special" janitor. Apart from the fact that they are animals, a lot of these characters could have come from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air or Joey.

Not only that, but for all its whimsy, the film-makers have added a whole dollop of proper "grown-up" emotional content. It's almost as if they sat down and tried to work through the original story, taking it outside the protective bubble of children's literature and seeing how it might have played out with real, flawed characters instead of Roald Dahl's original puppets. The end result is that the film has a cynical tone, to the extent where it almost seems too embarrassed to namecheck its own earnest title. While the film is very clever, and a lot of fun, and visually very charming, it's barely an adaptation of the book at all. More a witty, gritty, Hoodwinked-style pastiche of it.

But it is good. The only thing that held it back for me is the fact that, ultimately, it's very slight. There are moments when it aspires to be something more - Rat's death, for instance, or the fleeting, strangely beautiful appearance of the wolf - but they really are just moments.

For the most part, the film is funny and charming and never boring, but it didn't quite enchant me in the same way that Coraline or parts of Up did. Maybe it was a bit too smart - or even cocky? - to win me over quite so much. Anyway, I give this a B. Maybe a B+.

B, audience was 95% adult at a preview screening. Fun, but not as funny as it thinks it is.

annoying, but okay. no one laughed at the funny parts.

Nice review.. Annoying but Ok, huh??? Another words, wait til it hits DVD to see this???

I thought it was an overall satisying film and another Wes Anderson success.

It isn't perfect by any means. There's no -real- drive to the story. The confrontation between Mr. Fox and the farmers is never very clearly defined and elements meant to, I s'pose, build tension--such as the capture of Mr. Fox's nephew--don't do much to raise one's pulse.

However, the animation is BEAUTIFUL. And the voice cast is spot-on. And most of the jokes , I thought, connected, though very few of the 4/5/6-year-olds in the crowd were laughing...

One issue I have to raise: I WANTED MORE JARVIS COCKER!

Otherwise, quality family film. Yay Wes.

B+

Oh, and I loved the wolf. In and of itself, a genius, strangely moving scene I won't soon forget. However, it seemed to pop in from another movie... Random bit of genius melancholia to break up the frenetic, zany action of the third act.

wow gunslinger you're wrong on pretty much every point

lol, thanks

I loved it. I took my 8 year old nephew to see it and he enjoyed it as well. Wes Anderson is just a genius.


9/10

Not as great as the critics claim it is, and the arrogant film is nowhere near as funny as the trailers and the actual film itself make itself out to be (if that made any sense). Some of the jokes even went over my head, and though I laughed quite a few times, I can't say that for the rest of the small, small audience. Overall, I enjoyed it.

B+

Wes Anderson has produced another wonderful list that ranks around or may just be at the top of his resume along with Life Aquatic and Royal Tenenbaums. The adaptation based off Roald Dahl's work has a wonderful use of animation that will sadly get disregarded by most audiences. The all-star cast ranging from George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray is all wonderful and the story has so much richness and laughs to go with it. Despite the PG rating, the film is perfect for adults and kids alike. Another high step for the year. ***1/2

THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX - 9/10 (A-)

This is the best animated film I have seen in years. It's so smart and funny. They just don't make them like this, well, ever. It's too bad it didn't do better at the Box Office, but its audience does seem somewhat limited. It may be too intelligent for kids and mainstream animated movie fans.

The best animated film of the year, and I don't even like Wes Anderson that much.

Loved it and like trix, this is coming from a regular Wes Anderson hater.

Fox is one of the ultimate Clooney characters.

Ohh, that gives me hope considering I really disliked Life Aquatic and wasn't big on Darjeeling Limited either (haven't seen any other Anderson films).


Too bad the movie's not out till May here...

One of my favorites of 2009!

I'm not big on Anderson either. I liked Rushmore and thought Darjeeling was "decent," but that's it. This is by far the best of Anderson that I've seen.

Royal Tenenbaums is brilliant. Much better than the still excellent mr. fox.