Fantastic Mr. Fox

Once again Wes Anderson’s lets us see a part of his fantastic imagination. What better material to use then a book by Roald Dahl, who, himself had a very fascinating creativity.

Mr. Fox gives up his job stealing chickens when he finds out that Mrs. Fox is pregnant but he can’t get the thrill of it out of his system. When their son is a teenager, they move into a tree with a view onto three farms. Mr. Fox can’t help himself, he has to raid all of them. When the farmers find out that a fox has stolen from them, they team up to find the fox to kill him. Thus begins the battle.

Some of the sets are shown as a window display at Bergdorf Goodman’s on 5th Avenue. There you can really see how much detail went into the characters and the sets. It is absolutely beautifully done. Story-wise I thought the first half was a bit slow but the pace really picked up when the farmers team up to find Mr. Fox. For me this is when the story really begins. In a rating the first part would get a 3/5 and the second part a 4.5/5. So it is definitely worth watching.

George Clooney is really the perfect man to do the voice for Mr. Fox. Although I love Meryl Streep, I think the role doesn’t really fit her voice. There was just something of about it.

2012

We snuck into this screening after watching Fantastic Mr. Fox partly because it was the only film starting at that time and partly out of curiosity of how bad it could actually be. I thought it really wasn’t that bad. Or maybe it was so bad that it was good again (kind of like Mc Donalds). It was definitely very funny. Possibly not intentionally but I was laughing a lot. Example for all of you who have seen it: At the beginning when the family flies out of the big crashing city and suddenly a train (or subway) comes flying out of nowhere and almost hits them. How funny was that?

The special effects are done really well. I am always amazed at what Computers can actually create! Alright, so the story is utterly predictable and the acting seems way over the top but its still fun to watch. Pure entertainment. But what is John Cusack doing in this movie? Seriously? I love him as all of the quirky characters he normally plays in Independent films. He must have been broke or something to accept this role. I hope this was a one time excursion into the world of mainstream Hollywood for him!

And what is up with Roland Emmerich? Why does he keep making the same film over and over again? Is he crazily paranoid about the End of the world (in whatever way it might end) or is it purely a way for him to make money? Or does he just love making these huge budget destruction movies? I am sure he liked playing with Lego and Playmobil when he was a child. Creating a hole world perfectly and then letting his cat run through or letting a tornado blow through with a big fan or something.