Film review: Isle of Dogs (2018)

First of all, you have to understand that I really enjoy watching Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox, so when I saw a trailer for this I was raring to go. Also, you may have noticed by now that I love all things chaotic neutral, so I’m here for the absurd, the fun, and the quirky.

Isle of Dogs is like the quieter, more subtle version of FMF; there’s action and adventure and all those things, but Anderson has chosen to present the talking dogs unable to speak to their masters because their masters only speak Japanese. This sets up the premise of the dogs (inexplicably 99% male and all American) ‘talking’ back to their masters to warn them, or their masters ordering them about (or the hero of the movie, Atari, trying to explain what’s going on) - and no-one understanding any of it. The voice talents (Koya Rankin, Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Ed Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Kunichi Nomura, Akira Takayama, Liev Schreiber, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, F. Murrary Abraham, and even Yoko Ono) are brilliant and spot-on, and in the same way that FMF matched up personality with voice, here we have dogs and humans who look like they should sound like that.


There aren’t too many surprises in this film, but it’s not here for that. This is a cautionary tale about governments with secret agendas, political back-stabbing that have repercussions for the little people, and of course the lengths people will go to for their friends (or working pets) when everyone else abandons them. It’s a good tale told well, and if you're not laughing every time ‘Duke’ (Jeff Goldblum) recounts more intel then you’ve wandered into the wrong neighbourhood. It’s odd, it’s unusual, and it’s fun - what more can you ask for?

Verdict: 9/10; you’ve heard the rumour about Jeff Goldblum in this, right?