Rating of
3.5/4
A Witty Treat
JLFM - wrote on 04/12/12
Stop motion is a curious art. It never looks as real as CGI, and it's not as fluid as CGI. Also, it's extremely difficult to master. In fact, one would wonder why anyone would bother making a stop motion movie, as opposed to a CGI movie. The reason, is that stop motion has an odd, old fashioned, hand made feel to it. And somehow, that feel has been captured and placed into this movie, and it's not just evident in the animation.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is inspired from Roald Dahl's picture book by the same name. The film follows the story of Mr. Fox, who starts stealing farmer's merchandise again, without telling his wife. Mr. Fox has been planning some "great heist," despite his promises to his wife, claiming he would quit. Soon, the three meanest farmers of them all (Farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean), decide to end Mr. Fox's reign once and for all.
The film's dry humor is both witty and hilarious. No movie in the world can stand up to the unique humor that Fantastic Mr. Fox displays.
I give points to the outstanding voice talents (namely for George Clooney and Meryl Streep), and the comedic score by Alexandre Desplat.
The animation is spectacular. By far the best I've seen in a stop motion film. It's truly fantastic. Even for stop motion, it looks incredibly good fashioned, and that is a very good thing.
Unlike the book, however, this is not a piece of entertainment I can recommend for younger children. It's too dark, and they probably won't get many of the jokes (they may get a kick out of all the fuzzy animals, however). This is more of an older kids and parents flick.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is fun, entertaining, unique, and visually wonderful. It is not hard to understand why they call it "Fantastic" Mr. Fox.
Recent Comments
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 04/13/12 at 12:50 AM CT
Fantastic Mr. Fox Review comment
Great review. An underrated stop motion gem that is funny and entertaining.
