Review: Fantastic Mr Fox

Fantastic Mr Fox. 87 minutes. Rated PG. Directed by Wes Anderson; Written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach; Based on the novel by Roald Dahl.

Lead by the ground-breaking Pixar Films, the development of computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation techniques has arguably been most influential in the genre of films made ostensibly for children. With their first film, Toy Story (1995), Pixar single-handedly raised the bar and catapulted their young audiences' demandingly boundless imaginations into photo-realistic environments of captivating brilliance.

By comparison, Wes Anderson's (The Darjeeling Limited, The Royal Tenenbaums) subversive and quirky stop-motion Fantastic Mr Fox – based on a novel by the incomparable Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach) – at first presents as some kind of idle, farm-bound curiousity; a bewildering artifact from a bygone 'hard drive and gigabyte-free' age.

Mr Fox (over-bearingly voiced by George Clooney) is suffering a severe bout of affluenza. Tired of being poor and having to live underground, Mr Fox shops well beyond his means and buys a beautiful big tree where he, Mrs Fox (Meryl Streep) and cub Ash (Jason Schwartzman, a Wes Anderson regular) can live in picturesque tranquility. Mr Fox has also promised to stop his marauding, chicken-murdering ways, but his new proximity to three mega-farms brings his family (and a delightful collection of animal neighbours) into direct confrontation with the farmers – triggering a chain of events which threatens to destroy their world.

While Fantastic Mr Fox suffers from an uncomfortable collision of style over substance and a cloying, 'seen-it-all-before' subplot about the need for parental approval, it becomes increasingly difficult to deny the joyful effects of the lovingly-crafted puppets as they battle to save their world from destruction. Beautifully filmed by Wallace & Gromit Cinematographer Tristan Oliver and helped enormously by Nelson Lowry's (Corpse Bride) visually rich production design, the film's quintessential theme of the merits of a peaceful co-existence – even if you have nothing whatsoever in common with your neighbours – is a timely, and in fact, timeless, one.

This review was commissioned by The Geraldton Guardian and published in the print edition.