Isle of Dogs

       Isle of Dogs is directed by the notoriously wonderful Wes Anderson and stars an all-star cast of voice actors from Bryan Cranston to Tilda Swinton to Scarlett Johanson to Greta Gerwig. The film takes place in the fictional town of Magasaki city and when Mayor Kobayashi decrees that all dogs will be quarantined on an abandoned island called Trash Island, it stirs some political fury. On the island, a group of dogs find a 12-year-old boy who crash lands on the shore. The boy, Atari, tells the dogs that he is looking for his dog who was deported to the island months earlier. The group decides to help Atari and they embark on a journey across the island to help Atari find his dog, Spots.
       The fact that it's a Wes Anderson movie will raise expectations for anyone who is familiar with his work. His movies are unique, fun, colorful, charming, and sometimes over the top and these traits connect with a lot of people. People who love Anderson are definitely going to love Isle of Dogs and this film is, in my opinion, one of the best entries in Anderson's filmography.
       This movie has excellent stop-motion work and has a complex, heartfelt story that, depending on who you are, will have your eyes getting itchy. I loved this movie and everything about it. The symmetric cinematography that is usually associated with Anderson, the quirky humor, and the attention detail. Each dog hair has a life of its own. One thing that surprised me is how Anderson fleshes out almost every character. I was expecting backstories for only a couple of the characters, but the movie takes its time to show the inside of everyone. Not a single character is a throw-away object that only fills a certain slot. The movie shows how the issue of quarantining dogs has affected every character. Another thing I liked was the how barely any of the Japanese was subtitled or translated.  In scenes where there is only Japanese being spoken, audiences are left to infer what the dialogue is based on a character's action and the surrounding environment. Only the dogs speak English, but they can't understand anything from the humans. If you think about it, there is a smart, underlying social commentary that speaks towards a certain issue that has had much debate in recent years. Besides the main storyline, there are a lot of subplots. You have the Pro-Dog group, the conspiracist who desperately wants to prove her thesis, the scientist trying to find a cure, the mayoral election and campaigning part of the human story, and a stray who has deeper desires than anyone would think. All of these have a purpose and are necessary as they all have a part to play in the main overarching story. None of them felt like filler.
       The only thing I didn't like was towards the end of the second act. The movie slows down the pace for a hot minute and it felt like I was being hindered from the rest of the story, but this is pretty much a minor complaint since the scene in question takes its time to go deeper in one of the characters.
       Overall, Isle of Dogs is a fun, humorous, and masterfully animated piece of craft that will surely resonate with everyone. If you're a fan of Wes Anderson then you won't be disappointed, but if you're new to his work, this movie is probably a good starting point. Please see this in a theater if you can. I probably couldn't recommend this movie enough if I wanted to. 9.8/10