Mr. Fox plots the greatest heist ever in the animal kingdom.The visually ravishing animated movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox follows a fox, voiced by George Clooney and dressed in a natty brown corduroy suit, as he cheerfully and recklessly takes his thieving ways a little too far and brings down the wrath of some sour-faced poultry farmers on his family and friends. Based on a lesser-known book by children’s author Roald Dahl (who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach), the movie is the work of Wes Anderson (writer-director of Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums), who expanded and elaborated on the original story; the combination is inspired. Anderson’s sensibility–his fondness for meticulous compositions, coordinated colors, and narrative filigree–can sometimes seem finicky and stiff in live-action movies, but it’s exquisitely suited to the painstaking art of stop-motion animation. Every corner of the screen crackles with visual invention and whimsical humor. The top-notch vocal cast (which also features Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Owen Wilson, and others) create vivid personalities that perfectly mesh with the movie’s lush colors and luscious textures. The Fantastic Mr. Fox is an off-beat gem, a giddy mix of adult emotional issues, wild animal behavior, and childlike delight. –Bret Fetzer
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January 11, 2006
#1
This is the fifth time in 2009 alone that I run into those animation productions that ruined my joy of getting to movie theaters. After the Ice Age, the G-Force, Planet 51, and the Christmas Carol, I was already fed up with all animation movies. This one topped them all with its silliness.
Even though animations permitted the producers to invent diverse and effective characters, it exposed the weakness of making elegant characters, motions, or plots. The artists put too much labor in making the faces of the characters appear rich and impressive. Yet, all artistic ingenuity were depleted in making gracefully moving or talking characters.
The stiffed and skinny foxes made up a polarized existence that is far inferior to the real world of our beloved animals. Drawing parallels between the conflicts of the survival needs of the farmers and the wolves with those of human conflicts was overreaching. Making the best of enjoying the artistic richness of the movie did not reconcile my discontent with Mr. Fox.
Though most movie theaters display brief description of movies, those pamphlets are meticulously designed to escape the attention of busy people. In theaters where the description posters were intentionally hidden, I never took a chance wasting my time and money on nonsensical stuff. Fantastic Mr. Fox will be my last entrapment in sitting in a theater for a total waste. Beside myself, there was another poor guy sitting in the 120-seat theater. In the same night, I had to see the Blind Side for the sake of getting over my anger of being stuck with wolves suffering from spinal Billiard sticks.
Considering the enormous resources spent on movie display, I doubt that the $20 total per show would pay for the utility usage or the space rental. Even the $4.75 cups of soda in movie theaters are gathering dust from Sunday through Friday. As such, movies theaters would be better off playing the true legendary movies than competing for new high-risk productions.
January 11, 2006
#2
Let’s just say that 2005 was a really bad year for animated movies. The following year, animation collapsed and tried to regain through the next two years. Now this year is a really bad year for movies, period. Maybe there has been plenty of excellent films, but only geared towards “Coraline,” “Star Trek,” “Up,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and “Where the Wild Things Are.” But unfortunately, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” didn’t really hold a candle to any of these movies. We had a really crappy season lately for movies. With godawful action like “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Terminator Salvation” and “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” and plenty of bad animated movies like “Monsters vs. Aliens,” “Ponyo” and “9.” Now finally, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” really blows out all of them.
I understand that Wes Anderson makes really dry humor movies, to be honest, I never actually planned on seeing a Wes Anderson movie, though I just don’t think I should afford the time to see one. Though “Mr. Fox” was a huge blow. Throughout the movie, I was checking my watch to see when it would be over and when it’ll end soon. I saw this for a birthday party and I really couldn’t understand. The birthday boy enjoyed it, but to the rest of the guests, we didn’t enjoy it at all. I mean there has been plenty of mumbo and jumbo throughout the movie. I just couldn’t understand one thing.
George Clooney who has been in a lot of so-so movies lately. He’s just a face than an actor. I enjoy Meryl Streep a lot, and plenty of other voice actors too like Owen Wilson. But what bothers me that Owen Wilson is usually the best part of a movie and in this film, he only appeared for like five minutes. Face it, Owen you were an excellent voice cast for Lightning McQueen – don’t ruin your career by being in this stupid mess.
Face it, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” is easily the most overrated family film of the year and there wasn’t plenty of stuff for me to enjoy. I just couldn’t follow the plot or the humor. It’s probably because Wes Anderson is really good with dry humor. All in all I was like “when is the movie going to be over? Soon, but soon enough.” Thank god it’s over.
January 11, 2006
#3
This movie gets under way with everything going for it. Star-powered voicing features George Clooney. Merryl Streep’s lovely low tones, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and more. Stop animation has made huge strides even in the age of CGI, and can provide some of the most innovative and engaging imagery around. Basing a movie on a Roald Dahl book certainly won’t hurt it, either – look what Dahl parentage did for ‘James and the Giant Peach’, the various Willie Wonkas, and lots of others.
So, with all this going for it, the movie just didn’t thrill me, and I’m not sure why. The animation, though thoroughly competent, rarely rose above competence – but did so nicely in the “digging” scenes and in any involving smoke. Characters grated on me, especially Mr. Fox himself, who I found irredeemably self-centered, the kind who tends to reward friends’ loyalty with some pretty poor behavior. Also, I’ll happily go along with a forestful of critters in educated professions and snappy tailoring. Within that context (and within his sharp-looking leisure suit), Fox’s claim to being a wild animal rings false – unless “wild” means something more like a frat party than like a jungle.
So, I kept the characters at arm’s length, and the artistry wasn’t enough to pull me in. I’m glad I saw it, but I’m in no rush to see it again.
– wiredweird, reviewing the theatrical release
January 11, 2006
#4
um, hello Amazon? Where is Cate in this OUTSTANDING film? Please correct your credits; it makes me think I am pre-ordering the wrong disc.
***That said***
I am pre-ordering this Blu-Ray because I know that this will be one of those films (like Rushmore) that I reserve for rainy days when I call in sick to work. If you like Wes, just buy it.
January 11, 2006
#5
In A Nutshell: The movie reminded me of some of the movies I saw as a child because the animation is “stop-motion” like the Rudolph’s Shiny New Year and A Year Without A Santa Claus.
Roald Dahl is a brilliant author and James and the Giant Peach was one of my favorite books when I was growing up.
This is a grown up animated story. I tried to get my 4 year old to watch with me but she was uninterested. I think it is because the colors aren’t as vivid and the images weren’t as quick as the movies kids are used to these days.
There were parts I wasn’t comfortable with like farmers shouting, “lets kill kim” before shooting Mr. Fox’s tail off. Also, the scene where Mrs. Fox is bandaging up Mr. Fox’s bloody butt, where his tail came off keeps replaying in my head. I could have done without the bloody bandage. Other than that, the movie was smart, and older children or adults may be more interested than your little one.
It was too wordy and slow for today’s kids to sit through but the idea of stop-motion animation in a new format was fun. I really loved the soundtrack/score.