Isle of Dogs

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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Wes Anderson’s films are not everybody’s taste. You either love him or hate him, with not much room in between. I usually love his films — “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” etc. They’re stylish, clever, ironic.

Others find them precious, pretentious, stilted.

Pick your side.

But this won’t help you decide whether you’d like his latest — “Isle of Dogs” — or not. This stop-motion animation comedy’s not like anything else he’s done.

Oh, what about his other stop-motion film — “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — you ask?

Nope, other than the same oddball filming technique, the two don’t have much in common.

If you expect “Isle of Dogs” to be cute or charming you may be barking up the wrong tree. Anderson goes dark this time around.

“Isle of Dogs” is currently playing at Tropic Cinema.

The title comes from a trash island off the coast of Japan where unwanted pooches are dumped. Dogs have been ostracized in this futuristic version of Japan following an outbreak of canine flu.

Forced to scrabble for their survival, this pack of smelly, foul-tempered alpha dogs bemoan their fate and fight over food.
This exercise in weirdness revolves around the Mayor of Megasaki’s 12-year-old ward (Koyu Rankin) who is searching for his missing guard dog Spots, the first canine to be sent to Trash Island.

The dogs’ voices are familiar: Bryan Cranston (a tough dog named Chief), Jeff Goldblum (Duke), Bill Murray (Boss), Edward Norton (Rex), Scarlett Johannson (Nutmeg), Bob Balaban (King), Fisher Stevens (Scrap), Harvey Keitel (Gondo), F. Murray Abraham (Jupiter), and Liev Schreiber (Spots). Yes, Anjelica Houston is listed in the credits as the Mute Poodle. An inside joke.

The animated people’s voices are recognizable too: Courtney B. Vance (The Narrator), Francis McDormand (The Interpreter), Greta Gerwig (a student protester), Ken Watanabe (Dr. Ben Watanabe), Yoko Ono (Watanabe’s Assistant), and Akira Ito (Professor Watanabe).

There are a number of other Japanese voices in the cast, not surprising given the film’s obvious homage to Japanese maestro Akira Kurosawa. In particular, it calls to mind Kurosawa’s “Dodes’ka-den,” a 1970 drama about people living atop a rubbish heap. 

Anderson has also acknowledged his being influenced by legendary Japanese animator Hayao Mivazaki, noted for 2012’s “Spirited Away.” But Anderson’s acerbic viewpoint doesn’t match Mivazaki’s warmhearted visuals.

“Isle of Dogs” reflects Anderson’s rather skewed interpretation of Japan. And some of the imagery is sure to offend: explosions rendered as cutesy mushroom clouds. Speeches made in haiku. Caricatures pretending to be archetypes. A “white savior” role for the student activist.

Some people will say Trash Island is well named. I found it to be an interesting Wes Anderson destination.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com