Fantastic Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Movie Review

Filmmakers are increasingly using animation to make adult-oriented movies. No, not pornography; these directors and writers are subverting a genre typically seen as exclusively pre-adolescent by inserting grown-up themes and humour. Pixar does it all the time, and kids lap it up because their computer-generated animation is well executed and cool things occur in abundance. The latest offering to exploit this “kids love shiny things” loophole is Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Mr. Fox (the wonderfully dry George Clooney) is enticed out of his profession – raiding local farms – by his wife's declaration that she is pregnant and becomes a writer for the local paper. But, after two years of family bliss Fox opts to move to a house – well, a tree to be more precise – overlooking the properties of three of the area's biggest farmers. A series of night time sorties follow, and eventually Fox – and his woodland neighbours – must deal with the consequences.

I wouldn't really describe Fantastic Mr. Fox as a return to form for Wes Anderson, since I really enjoyed both The Life Aquatic and The Darjeeling Limited; rather, the movie is a return to commercial viability for a director who needs a hit more badly than a strung-out junkie. Both of Anderson's last two features floundered at the box office, and if Fox goes the same way, there could some wilderness years ahead for the young auteur.

I get the very strong feeling that certain members of the cast were heavily “suggested” to Wes Anderson. The two leads – Clooney and Streep – are stars that can justify the $50 million budget, but neither is included for the sake of a big name. Clooney has grown a reputation as an actor that can deliver a nuanced performance which won't dissuade audiences from coming to see him, and brand Streep - revitalised following 2008's Mamma Mia – is character acting for the masses.

The script, penned in conjunction with The Squid And The Whale's Noah Baumbach, is dryly-humoured dynamite, but not quite fit for consumption by those yet to grow pubic hair. One particular scene, which I can only assume was written by Baumbach - whose Squid relates to the breakup of his parents – sees Mr. Fox admit to Mrs. Fox that he cannot not control his impulse to do an Ozzy Osbourne impression on farmyard chickens. Mrs. Fox's reply to this is that she knew this when they wed; her solution, they should never have married. The scene ends there, with no pratfall or fart noise to break the tension. We're in the land of animated reality here, people.

Speaking of which, the inert sets mirror Aardman's Wallace and Gromit constructions. Their stillness accentuates each character's movement, which was reportedly mimed for the animators by Wes Anderson. They are often filmed from distance too, adding to the sense of dreamy stillness.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox proves that you don't need Pixar computer trickery to produce a slick, funny, and above all fantastic, adult-family film.

9.5 out of 10