Isle of Dogs reviews roundup: What the critics are saying about Wes Anderson new film
It's the filmmaker's first feature since 2014 comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel
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Your support makes all the difference.Wes Anderson is on the cusp of releasing new film Isle of Dogs, the reviews of which are flooding in.
The filmmaker's first feature since 2014 comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel sees him unite with a cast boasting frequent collaborators Bill Murray, Edward Norton and Jeff Goldblum alongside fresh talent including Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson and, er, Yoko Ono.
It doesn't stop there either: Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand and Courtney B. Vance are just some more of the stars lending their talents to the filmmaker's latest project which seems to be receiving unanimous praise following its premiere at Berlin International Film Festival.
Set during a canine epidemic twenty years in the future, Isle of Dogs follows a young boy's existential journey as he searches for his missing pet in Japan.
You can see the critical verdict below.
The Independent, Geoffrey Macnab - 4 stars
The film possesses considerable charm. He knows just how to milk the pathos from scenes involving, say, the runt of the litter which needs to be bottled fed or the hardened stray who suddenly discovers he has a brother. Anderson is clearly a dog lover himself and his film is bound to appeal to anyone who shares his passion. All in all, the film is quite a treat.
Screen International, Fionnuala Halligan
The film is bursting with colour out of its elaborate miniatures, audacious choices which demand to be admired (bright purple volcanos, vibrant reds, cherry blossoms, leached-out sequences which pay tribute to Japanese cinema’s majestic past).
A winningly dippy hodgepooch of lo-fi sci-fi, band-of-outsiders adventure and the most meme-ready canine antics you’ll find outside of YouTube, this leisurely tale of abandoned mutts taking on a corrupt human government is effectively puppy-treat cinema: small, salty, perhaps not an entire meal, but rewarding nonetheless.
The Telegraph, Tim Robey - 4 stars
Everything you might expect to be cute, charming and generally edible about a canine-themed Wes Anderson stop-motion animation is spectacularly upended, then poured into a landfill, [which] is by some measure Anderson’s weirdest concoction ever, in all sorts of good ways. And it probably counts as his most daring, too.
The Guardian, Jonathan Romney - 4 stars
The puppet dogs’ expressive eyes may occasionally well up with tears, but if there’s one thing that Isle of Dogs isn’t, it’s twee; Anderson and his story collaborators, who also include Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman, firmly eschew the Japanese cult of kawaii, or cuteness.
Isle of Dogs is released in the UK on 20 March
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