Fantastic Mr. Fox

As any regular reader of my reviews knows I am a Wes Anderson superfan. I've thoroughly enjoyed all five of his previous films, particularly "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums," both of which rate quite high on my list of all-time favorite movies. In his newest film he does something he's never done before, but it's still patently Wes Anderson.
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" is Anderson's first venture into animation. Stop-motion animation to be exact. Based on the children's book by Roald Dahl, it tells us the story of one Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney), a successful bird thief whose wife (Meryl Streep) asks him to give up his chosen profession when she learns their first child is on the way. Two years later (or "Twelve Fox Years") Mr. Fox is a newspaper columnist with a happy wife and a very typical twelve-year old son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman). But Fox feels unsatisfied with his life. "Honey," he tells Mrs. Fox, "I am seven fox years old. My father died at seven and a half. I don't want to live in a hole anymore, and I'm going to do something about it."
What he's not telling her is that he's going to pull one last heist. A three part heist really, that involves swiping chickens from the three meanest farmers known to fox-kind, the humans Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. His lawyer, Badger (Bill Murray) from the law firm Badger, Beaver, and Beaver, is decidedly against this idea. In a response very typical of an Anderson character, human or otherwise, Fox dryly responds, "I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice."
With the loyal Kylie (Wallace Wolodarsky) and overachieving nephew Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson) by his side, Fox dons his bandit cap and embarks on the "triple header." Things go relatively smoothly for Fox and his co-horts and along the way we learn that "beagles love blueberries." But when Bean (Michael Gambon) realizes who's been behind the recent thefts he leads Boggis and Bunce on a crusade to kill Fox, his family, and any other wild animal that gets in their way. Fox must get himself and everyone else out of the mess he's created.
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" is Wes Anderson through and through. From the very dry, very subtle comedy to the set and costume design, use of music, and theme of strained familial relationships. Like so many of Anderson's characters, Ash is an outsider, constantly trying to prove himself to Fox, who seems much more impressed with Kristofferson.
One month after "Where the Wild Things Are" are generally fell short as a full length adaptation of a very short story, Anderson shows us how it's done with "Fantastic Mr. Fox." It does my heart good to know that we're in a time where films are being made for children (thanks mostly to Pixar) that don't talk down to them and give them credit for having a brain. It's not perfection and only occasionally laugh out loud, but "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is highly enjoyable and a must for fans not only of Wes Anderson, but fans of genuinely entertaining films. I have the feeling I'll enjoy it even more the second time around. For now I give it 8.5/10. Enjoy this featurette.