Fantastic Mr Fox

Fantastic Mr Fox

Synopsis

A stop motion animated film based on Roald Dahl’s children’s classic is about Mr and Mrs Fox who lives under a tree. There with their babies, Badger, Rabbit, Weasel, and all of their families as well they are one big happy family. Mr Fox to make ends meet, every night, steals a meal from one of the three crooked farmers – Boggis, Bunce and Bean. The angry farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with a sly fox, look to get rid of their Mr Fox and his family.

Official Site: www.fantasticmrfoxmovie.com

Singapore Release Date: 19th November 2009, Thursday

Running Time: 87 minutes

Ratings: G

Genre: Adventure | Animation | Comedy

Cast: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Jarvis Cocker, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Helen McCrory

Crew: Director (Wes Anderson), Producer (Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Allison Abbate, Steven Rales), Writers (Wes Anderson), Screenplay (Noah Baumbach), Music (Alexandre Desplat), Cinematography (Tristan Oliver) and Editing (Andrew Weisblum)

The Trailer

The Review

When I heard of my favorite childhood book was turned into a film, I was ecstatic!

However to my disappointment there were elements from the Roald Dahl children’s book that was missing in this stop motion animation.

There were certain re-writes, but still if you’re not one particular on details, it was still a fun way to spend your hour and a half.

With a star-studded cast that voiced the various creatures, the film somewhat Americanized the Brit elements of Roald Dahl’s book.

I actually came out whistling, and making Mr. Fox click-click trademark catchy quip, you don’t see that a Brit doing that.

The story is about Mr. Fox voiced by George Clooney who promised his wife (Meryl Streep) that he has reformed his wild ways, and is content being a newspaper man.

But under the direction of Wes Anderson, where he tries to convey the message that a fox will always be a fox, the sly Mr. Fox soon returns to his thieving ways, and in the process puts the lives of his family and all the other animals at risk when the pesky humans got wind of their meals being stolen.

The film looks visually great, you can tell a lot of work went into the design and I love the cool extreme close-ups.

It has a funny quirky sense of humor, from Mr. Fox’s son and nephew (Ash and Kristofferson), to his opossum buddy Kylie (Wally Wolodarsky), and not to forget Bill Murray’s lawyer/badger, whom I wish had more lines in the movie.

I won’t be surprise if the film is running for the “Best animated Feature” Oscar race.

The Good

• Visually brilliant
• Peppered with quirky humor
• Movie teaches us to learn to appreciate each other

The Bad

• Needs a better script
• Mr. Fox can be self-centered at times
• The kids might not understand some of the jokes

Editor’s Ratings