Far From Fantastic, but a bit of a hoot!

Rating: 5/10 (10 March 2010)

Fantastic Mr. Fox had it's British elements torn from the roots, butchered, Americanised, and in result of this we get to see the laziest stop motion displayed in cinema history. If you watch Nick Park's work on Wallace & Gromit, there is so much charm because of the attention to detail. This really does look rushed, and when ever there is a adventure or action sequences the camera cuts miles back so you can only just make out the card board cut outs. Wes Anderson could argue it's for effect, but perhaps all the budget went into it's divine A-list voice cast that there was just no money or time put in it's appearance. It doesn't look cute, in fact at times it's almost disturbing. The voice cast are fine here, the only problem is that there is just no need for these big names. Someone 10 times cheaper than George Clooney could have pulled off Fox's vocal chords with out breaking a sweat. It's just one massive marketing technique. The only voice actor here that was so vital to the film is Jason Schwartzman, his delivery is where the movie get's its greatest comedic injection.
Having said all this, this isn't particularly a bad movie at all. It's really well write and the dialogue is charming a very witty. Never laugh out loud hilarious, but it keeps the viewer much more interested, seeming so there's not much else to fall back on. The plot, although taken from the novel, still isn't great, but things do pick up in the last couple of acts and as annoying and frightening it may look, it is still entertaining. It's adult for kids, to kiddie for adults, Mr. Fox really can't settle a target audience and really can't hold a worthy contender for the Best Animation Film.
Overall: Far from fantastic, but it's quirky, cooky and a bit of a hoot. But in the end of the day it's just another ash for the animation pile.