Quirky stop motion adventure

Rating: 5/10 (24 July 2015)

I used to love reading Roald Dahl's stories when I was a kid, so this stop motion version of one of his favourite works intrigued me. Also, I'd never seen a Wes Anderson film before, so I was eager to see what all the fuss was about surrounding this maverick director.
My feelings about FANTASTIC MR. FOX are mixed. There are many elements of the original story present and correct here, but at the same time the story has been muddled and become very Americanised. I don't mind the fact that the animals have American accents (George Clooney et al) but I hate the intrusive pop music that keeps playing on the soundtrack in order to evoke emotion - I always despise films that play this cheap trick.
The heart of the story - humans vs. animals - is a good one and there are a lot of funny and quirky moments, but other parts of the film left me cold. The characters of the young foxes are played by a couple of adult voice actors and the effect is a distinctly odd, and slightly creepy, one. Still, it's not all bad, and it's hard to dislike a film that utilises so much stop motion as this one does.