I had really wanted to see Fantastic Mr. Fox when it was in the theaters, but didn't get a chance to. I had been very excited about seeing how Wes Anderson would do a puppet-animated children's story, thinking it would whimsical and precious, but not in a bad way.I just watched it at home, and it *was* whimsical and precious, and not in a bad way. Everything about it, the look, the tone, the pacing, the characters, was 100% Wes Anderson, and if you like his movies, there's no reason not to like this.
And I liked it. I really did. But I wasn't blown away by it, you know? I enjoyed every moment but kind of felt relieved when it was over. Somehow it never became more to me than a vehicle for Wes Anderson to be Wes Anderson, and I guess that ended up being a little bit of a problem for me.
I'm curious what children, who don't know the director's work, thought of it. I imagine kids would love it, because they wouldn't be experiencing the redundancy of his aesthetics, just enjoying the story...
2 comments:
I loved every minute of it. I thought the format restrained the self-indulgent extra quirky exposition that I have often found grating in Anderson's movies. This was leaner and just as soulful and funny as the other things he's done, and the animation was brilliant.
I think I liked it more than this post indicates, actually. It's just that it lacked a certain oomph for me.
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