Isle of Dogs: Wes Anderson’s animated adventure ticks all the boxes. The animation itself is incredible: done in stop-motion, the visual style of the characters (dogs and humans) is very distinctive and attractive, and the environments (the production design is by Anderson’s regular collaborator Adam Stockhausen alongside Paul Harrod), very rich and varied (desolate in the title Isle of Dogs, colorful in Megasaki City). Cinematographer Tristan Oliver lenses and lits it beautifully. Voice work is great; the director makes the intriguing decision to translate the dogs but not most of the human characters, a decision that helps set the point of view of the film. Koyu Rankin plays the human protagonist with energy and passion. Bryan Cranston plays the canine protagonist, the leader of a pack that helps the boy in his journey to find his own dog. The cast is enormous, filled with many Anderson regulars, and they are all rather good. Composer Alexandre Desplat’s original score is heavily inspired by Japanese music and leans heavily into the use of what is generally known as taiko drums, but it goes way beyond that (the wonderful End Titles track is proof of that); it is a superb work.

But all that could be shortened to “the aesthetics are great”, and would mean little if the story was not very entertaining. It is a political allegory that, alas, still resonates, but on the surface, it is a story about friendship and dedication that is powerful and touching.

As an unrelated bonus, a commercial directed by Anderson:

Read what I wrote before: Isle of Dogs