Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Now here is an unusual proposition: a film based on a beloved children’s book brought to us by the director of The Royal Tennenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited. After all, when it comes to adapting Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson does not stand out as the most obvious choice compared to Tim Burton, whose wonderfully outlandish touches fitted 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so well. It is refreshing then to see that Anderson has delivered a faithful enough rendition, while also adding his own unmistakable signature in the process.

Filmed in stop motion animation à la Nightmare Before Christmas, the plot sees the titular Mr Fox wistfully end a career of stealing chickens in order to settle down and start a family. It is not long before he slips back into his old habits, causing three angry farmers to hunt him down by tearing apart the land with tractors and diggers. Not one to go down without a fight, Fox decides to rise to the challenge with the help of his fellow woodland critters.

There is an immediate, almost innate appeal to Fantastic Mr Fox, which may be down to the atypical animation or the star talent behind the voices (the stand-outs being George Clooney and Jason Schwartzman, voicing Fox Snr and Jr respectively). But one glaring flaw persists throughout, and that is the thin storyline. Basically consisting of a series of set-pieces strung together by a meagre 90 minute running time, the film all too often risks being dismissed as average children’s entertainment. 

Wes Anderson, however,  is smart enough to recognise this defect and compensates by injecting some very welcome quirky characterisation, the sort we have become accustomed to in his body of work. As a result Fantastic Mr Fox emerges as a very funny and at times unexpectedly profound movie. Witness Mr Fox confessing to mid-life crisis with his wife (“I don’t want to live in a hole anymore. It makes me feel poor”) or his sardonic son, Ash, desperately trying to gain parental approval by competing with his athletically gifted cousin, Kristofferson. 

The film is both funny and moving at the same time. It also boasts a catchy soundtrack which includes The Beach Boys, Rolling Stones and a very funny tune by Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, who voices a character undeniably based on the singer’s appearance.

As is inevitably the case with previous Roald Dahl adaptations, Fantastic Mr Fox may not surpass or perhaps even match the source material, but it still manages to make a good impression on the casual viewer. Not fantastic then, but definitely worth the watch. 

3/5