Fantastic Mr. Fox

A drama about a marital crisis, a portrait of a complex father-son relationship, and a regular heist movie in animated guise with affectionate comedic elements thrown in. Yes, it sounds wild and over-the-top, but Wes Anderson just knows how to do this. The fantastic dubbing of the main character by George Clooney and the near-perfect timing of most of the gags then puts Fantastic Mr. Fox in a completely different box than conventional animated films. But therein lies its greatest strength – in its originality, its bold multi-genre execution, and its typical "Andersonian" poetry, which (and I totally get it) may not appeal to everyone, but no one can deny the playfulness and powerful emotional experience. (11/08/2020)

Some choices look like sure bets. Both the author of the literary original and the director represent attractive artists in their field who can write and direct differently from the mainstream and create amazing alternative worlds. I was perhaps too excited because what I got was an animated film that wasn't as mature and provocative as I had imagined. Additionally, I had a problem of an ethical nature, so to speak. I was cheering for those who were portrayed as villains in the movie, even though they were actually just protecting their property. On the other hand, the charming Mr. Fox is nothing more than a thief who justifies his thievery by saying that he simply enjoys it. It is simply a morally depraved film. In the end, I was most pleased with the visual aspects, which are truly unique even in today's flood of films on the market. Overall impression: 65%. (21/01/2016)

The Great Cheese Robbery Anderson-style. So nothing for kids. In his fox guise Clooney is maybe even more charismatic than usual, Dafoe’s part is one of the unforgettable ones, plus Desplat à la Morricone, not cheaply stealing from him (not like many others), but developing on him fantastically. And in fact this entire movie is a fantastic celebration of fox, uh sorry, human fantasy and playfulness. (04/02/2010)

Stop-motion puppet animation is always something that must be appreciated, especially if it has a meaningful story, which in this case it does, even though Roald Dahl's source material is definitely not ordinary. Perhaps it's not a film that's explosively funny, but it's a film that maintains Anderson's peculiar poetics. I enjoyed it. (09/12/2016)

I was really looking forward to another great animated movie, but what I got was a huge and ambitious disappointment. The story overall is interesting and original, but the director didn't quite pull it off in my opinion. It doesn’t have enough pace, the oddly conceived animation didn't appeal to me at all, and I found the drawn-out dialogue desperately angsty and unfunny, with the main characters sometimes solving problems trying to be as close to humans as possible. I really hate to slag films like this, but in this case, unfortunately, after the first viewing, I have no other choice. (17/07/2011)