A lot of weaknesses, but it's pleasant and kind of beautiful at times

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2009)

Wes Anderson becomes an animation director while retaining his signature visual style. The stop-motion animation itself is intentionally crude and old fashioned, almost like an episode of Gumby, and it has a charm. One wonders whether the younger generation will accept it or not. Some kids in the theater behind me certainly didn't, and were fidgeting throughout the movie. That may not have just been due to the animation style, though, as it's not really aimed for kids so much as Wes Anderson fans. Based on the book by Roald Dahl but presumably barely resembling it, George Clooney voices Mr. Fox, a former bird thief forced to give it up by his wife (Meryl Streep) after they are nearly captured. Twelve years later and saddled by a son (Jason Schwartzman) and a new mortgage, Mr. Fox decides that he's had enough of the safe life and decides to pilfer from three nearby and very dangerous farmers. In retaliation, the farmers attack the entire animal community in the forest where Mr. Fox lives. I haven't read the Dahl book, but most of Fantastic Mr. Fox's best moments are definitely Wes Anderson moments, with perfectly chosen music and semi-awkward dialogue and petty character conflict. The plot of the film is really not Anderson's interest, which does lead to problems later in the film. As a children's story, Fantastic Mr. Fox at least in part relies on action, and Anderson is just not an action director. His set-ups are confusing and often make little sense. As the film goes through its climax, it gets considerably weaker than when the characters were just standing around conversing. All in all, it's far from a great movie, and perhaps in reality it isn't even that good of one. But there is a lot of beauty in it, and I love the handcrafted feel. I'd marginally recommend it, though I'd say you have to at least in part be a fan of Wes Anderson.