Isle of Dogs (2018)

Isle of Dogs (2018)

3/10

Starring the voice of

Bryan Cranston

Edward Norton

Bill Murray

Jeff Goldblum

Directed by Wes Anderson

Isle of Dogs is an animation created not to stir up any form of emotions because the movie itself has no emotional depth. It’s also not supposed to make you think or plant any form of controversial view. The movie is a fictional idea that, at one point, dogs were at war with cat people.

Since everything in the above paragraph is true, why was this movie so depressingly boring and annoying? It stirred up emotions that weren’t supposed to be there. I’ve seen animations I didn’t like and movies I’d rather forget about, but nothing like this. I just can’t understand what the whole idea of making this movie was about.

Isle of Dogs is a 2018 stop-motion animated comedy film written, produced, and directed by Wes Anderson. Set in a dystopian near-future Japan, the movie follows a young boy, Atari, on a journey to rescue his dog, Spots. You see, the corrupt Mayor Kobayashi has exiled all dogs to Trash Island, he did this under the pretense of stopping an outbreak of canine flu, which is a lie. The real reason he did it was, he is from a long line of cat lovers who have always hated dogs. So, with the help of a pack of exiled dogs, Atari sets out to uncover the truth and get his dog back.

One of the problems I have while watching is that, while the movie tries to present an interesting story, it drags and loses focus. Other issues here are the slow pacing. The slowness was making the animation longer than it actually is. Some moments are supposed to be funny but didn’t work. The film also takes itself way too seriously for something that’s supposed to be fun. It almost feels like the creators were trying so hard to be “artistic” that they forgot to make it enjoyable.

Another thing is, there’s no real emotional connection between the characters, so I couldn’t care about anything that’s happening. If you’re expecting a heartwarming animal movie, this isn’t it.

The voice acting is actually well done, that I give the movie. But, the problem is, it doesn’t make the film any more engaging. 

I keep asking myself if there’s anything good to say about the movie. The only positive thing I can say is that you might not even notice when you fall asleep and the movie ends.

Take your time to go catch other movies at the cinema. This one is a waste of money.