This movie has style to spare, and is immensely enjoyable from start to finish. The visuals look great, and the voice cast (George Clooney, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson) is fantastic.
I can identify two stories in here. First, the titular character, the Fantastic Mr. Fox, decides to make as home for himself and his family, a tree that's located next to the properties of three of the most dangerous farmers out there. His lawyer the badger, voiced by Bill Murray, advises him against it, but he insists.
Why does Mr. Fox do this? Because he wants to go on "one last score" and raid the hen houses of all three of these farmers. In doing so he starts an escalating war with the farmers, endangering his family and the whole surrounding community of animals. The underlying question for me here is "Can a man really settle down, be domesticated, be happy with what he has, when he's really an animal, whose nature is to hunt?"
The other story involves Mr. Fox's son. The son is weird and isn't given the respect he feels he deserves. His cousin seems to get more attention from his father, as both an athlete and a partner in crime during the farm raids. He doesn't get a burglar mask of his own, he has to fashion one for himself. By trying to prove himself, he ends up getting his cousin captured. The underlying theme here is our desire to be recognized for our unique talents, by our parents and others.
I thought the anthropomorphizing of the creatures in this movie was handled extremely well, perhaps the best that I've seen in movies or TV. These animals obviously walk and talk and dress as if they're human, but they also act like the animals that they are.
This is not a kids movie. Kids can enjoy it, sure, but they won't get as much out of it. I strongly recommend that everyone go see it.
No comments:
Post a Comment