Wes Anderson has done it again, ladies and gentlemen – made a movie that all the fans may be quoting for ages.  But is that a bad thing?  Not necessarily.  Fantastic Mr. Fox turns out to be just as the name implies – fantastic.

Based off of the story by Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox tells the tale of a fox who, after stealing from farmers in hopes of making conditions better for his family, places himself and his friends in a cumbersome situation.  Wes Anderson brings the story to life in his first animated film, with the same typical Wes Anderson cast – Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, and Bill Murray – plus George Clooney and Meryl Streep as Mr. and Mrs. Fox.

Anderson, almost effortlessly, seems to adapt the animated film style to match his own.  The film is marked with Wes Anderson’s style from the beginning with plain, yellow captions to narrate certain parts of the film.  The characters are exactly what Anderson’s characters are marked for, but instead of seeing Jason Schwartzman as his nonchalant human self, his voice takes the form of a nonchalant, angry fox (Ash, Mr. Fox’s son).  At some point of the movie I remember turning to a friend of mine and saying, “That is Schwartzman.  These characters can act out the movie as humans and I’d still get it.”  Wes Anderson proves to know his cast well.

Overall, the movie is excellent.  I’d say that this one is worthy to go on the DVD shelf along with Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Bottle Rocket.  Wes Anderson fans, I think you’ll enjoy it.  Roald Dahl fans, you’ll enjoy it.  Regular movie goers, you’ll enjoy it.  Wes Anderson revisits a childhood story of ’sticking it to the man’ and delivers it to all of the audience.

-Aria, Intern
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