Isle of DogsIt's hard to see that you're loved when you're always looking the other way. Isle of Dogs is an animated film set in a dystopian Japan twenty years from now, where an outbreak of "dog flu" and anti-dog propaganda leads to the exile of Man's best friend to an island used for waste disposal, aptly called "Trash Island". One day, a twelve year-old Japanese boy named Atari (Koyu Rankin) crashes his small aircraft on the island. He is discovered by a group of "alpha dogs"--including a cantankerous stray named Chief (Bryan Cranston)--who help him try to locate his erstwhile bodyguard dog named Spots (Liev Schreiber), the first dog to be sent to Trash Island by Atari's uncle and mayor of Megasaki, Kenji Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura).
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Written and directed by Wes Anderson, Isle of Dogs is a charming fable about friendship and fidelity in the vein of the auteur's prior movies. Many of its main characters--most of whom are dogs--are voiced by prominent actors who have frequently collaborated with Anderson before. While Chief often offers the dissenting opinion in his quintet of Trash Island refugees, his comrades include Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Duke (Jeff Goldblum), and Boss (Bill Murray), each with their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. It is actually the democratic-minded Rex who advocates to reunite Atari with Spots, while Chief maintains a defensive front and avoids friendly contact with the young boy, following the pack begrudgingly out of an adherence to his instincts. Although the dogs are voiced in English, their "masters" speak almost uniformly in Japanese. The film deliberately avoids the use of subtitles, engendering sympathy--from an English-speaking audience, at least--for the canine protagonists. Isle of Dogs has elements reminiscent of Japanese theater; the stop-motion animation recalls the bunraku style of Japanese puppetry, and the film's prologue foreshadows the events of the rest of the film, telling the tale of a "child samurai" who saved canines in Japan from extinction a thousand years prior. The anthropomorphizing of the dogs--to the extent that they exhibit human-like personalities-- also recalls similar family films like All Dogs Go to Heaven. The storybook quality of Isle of Dogs is also consistent with Anderson's prior films, ranging from The Royal Tenenbaums to The Grand Budapest Hotel, evoking the style of young adult fiction by beloved authors like Roald Dahl. This future Japan is not so much technologically more advanced than its present state, but is in a kind of entropic downward spiral. This is evident at least in the way that Megasaki deals with its colossal amount of refuse, devoting an entire island to the wreckage of its mistakes and consumption. It's never fully explained where the acrimony toward dogs stemmed from, but Kobayashi and his gaunt second, Major Domo (Akira Takayama), exploit every avenue--from organized crime to the military--to ensure that the "dog problem" is wiped out in short order. The ostracization and (later) attempted genocide of the marginalized pooches for political reasons also has unsettling similarities to the Holocaust. As the dogs are removed from Megasaki, cat motifs emerge as a dominant one, although there is no evidence that this was all a conspiracy perpetrated by the felines. That said, a conspiracy exists all the same, and while Atari is stranded on Trash Island, back in Megasaki, a young foreign exchange student from Cincinnati, Ohio named Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig) aggressively pursues evidence to support her theory when no one else will, while trying to locate the cure for dog flu, supposedly completed by Kobayashi's political rival, a scientist named Professor Watanabe (Akira Ito). And yet the overarching plot to reinstate the expelled dogs seems incidental to Chief's inner motivations, including an unspoken need for forgiveness, to learn how to trust others, and a desire to feel included and loved.
The symptoms of dog flu are reported to include aggressiveness and more--including a predilection toward sneezing--yet Chief is clearly the most antisocial of his afflicted brethren. When his allies join Atari for his explanation of his mission--even though they don't understand it--Chief resists joining them and disobediently refuses to "sit" when told. His antagonistic attitude wasn't born from a viral infection, but a past devoid of meaningful companionship. Chief shares his past with his pack as they and Atari cross an abandoned corporate golf course long since rewilded, describing how he had been a stray for as long as he could remember, except for an episode when he was briefly adopted by a family. During this period, he reacted instinctively when a boy woke him from his sleep and bit the child. Chief repeatedly says that he "bites" as a warning to others not to get to close to him, but claims that he didn't know what triggered this violent reaction before concluding that it must have been a deep-seated fear within himself. This comes from feelings of mistrust and expectations of betrayal; his exile to Trash Island only reinforced his low expectations of humanity. Despite his proclamations that he doesn't "like" Atari, he winds up the boy's sole companion after they are separated from Rex and company during their quest across the ravaged island. Even though Chief protests when Atari tries to play fetch with him, he participates all the same. Chief also repeatedly claims that he has no interest in Atari's welfare, yet when the boy is considering riding a potentially dangerous, abandoned amusement park attraction, Chief tries to discourage the boy out of a concern for his well-being. But it isn't until Atari shares a secreted away dog biscuit with Chief that the gruff mutt begins to lighten up and accept the boy's kindness with gratitude. Following this, Atari washes Chief and in a metaphor made manifest, reveals that beneath his blackened exterior exists a noble beast who bears an uncanny resemblance to the boy's missing Spots. Chief rediscovers feelings of bravery and affection through his interactions with other canine acquaintances. He meets a lovely (if aloof) lassie named Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson); and despite his awkward stammering, he makes a point later on to warn her against impending danger out of the goodness of his heart as he, Atari, and other dogs return to Megasaki. His time with Spots fuels a sense of courage and honor within, long since masked with anger and bitterness, and Chief becomes Atari's new bodyguard with Spots' blessing. Isle of Dogs superficially resembles a children's movie, but Chief's journey of redemption and enlightenment is a poignant message for anyone, especially those who have suffered betrayal or have known fundamental doubts about themselves.
Recommended for: Fans of a colorful and heart-warming film that balances the humor stemming from the absurd concept of exiling Japan's dogs as a part of a government conspiracy with themes of forgiveness and trust in spite of past transgressions. A couple of unsettling moments aside--mostly involving a scene depicting ikizukuri--Isle of Dogs is appropriate for virtually all audiences, and most everyone can likely glean something of value from its rich presentation and themes.
The symptoms of dog flu are reported to include aggressiveness and more--including a predilection toward sneezing--yet Chief is clearly the most antisocial of his afflicted brethren. When his allies join Atari for his explanation of his mission--even though they don't understand it--Chief resists joining them and disobediently refuses to "sit" when told. His antagonistic attitude wasn't born from a viral infection, but a past devoid of meaningful companionship. Chief shares his past with his pack as they and Atari cross an abandoned corporate golf course long since rewilded, describing how he had been a stray for as long as he could remember, except for an episode when he was briefly adopted by a family. During this period, he reacted instinctively when a boy woke him from his sleep and bit the child. Chief repeatedly says that he "bites" as a warning to others not to get to close to him, but claims that he didn't know what triggered this violent reaction before concluding that it must have been a deep-seated fear within himself. This comes from feelings of mistrust and expectations of betrayal; his exile to Trash Island only reinforced his low expectations of humanity. Despite his proclamations that he doesn't "like" Atari, he winds up the boy's sole companion after they are separated from Rex and company during their quest across the ravaged island. Even though Chief protests when Atari tries to play fetch with him, he participates all the same. Chief also repeatedly claims that he has no interest in Atari's welfare, yet when the boy is considering riding a potentially dangerous, abandoned amusement park attraction, Chief tries to discourage the boy out of a concern for his well-being. But it isn't until Atari shares a secreted away dog biscuit with Chief that the gruff mutt begins to lighten up and accept the boy's kindness with gratitude. Following this, Atari washes Chief and in a metaphor made manifest, reveals that beneath his blackened exterior exists a noble beast who bears an uncanny resemblance to the boy's missing Spots. Chief rediscovers feelings of bravery and affection through his interactions with other canine acquaintances. He meets a lovely (if aloof) lassie named Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson); and despite his awkward stammering, he makes a point later on to warn her against impending danger out of the goodness of his heart as he, Atari, and other dogs return to Megasaki. His time with Spots fuels a sense of courage and honor within, long since masked with anger and bitterness, and Chief becomes Atari's new bodyguard with Spots' blessing. Isle of Dogs superficially resembles a children's movie, but Chief's journey of redemption and enlightenment is a poignant message for anyone, especially those who have suffered betrayal or have known fundamental doubts about themselves.
Recommended for: Fans of a colorful and heart-warming film that balances the humor stemming from the absurd concept of exiling Japan's dogs as a part of a government conspiracy with themes of forgiveness and trust in spite of past transgressions. A couple of unsettling moments aside--mostly involving a scene depicting ikizukuri--Isle of Dogs is appropriate for virtually all audiences, and most everyone can likely glean something of value from its rich presentation and themes.