Dan Holford’s review published on Letterboxd:
“Don’t you cuss at me!”
Effortlessly charming, hilariously funny in parts and absolutely beautiful to watch. I really liked this one, it’s got Wes Anderson written all over it, and it works perfectly for this story.
The style of this movie is incredible, it’s not just the impressive stop motion, but the incredibly colourful sets and landscape designs are all beautiful to look at. Especially the town towards the end of the movie, every detail is perfectly placed and set out to create this kooky world. The character designs are all pitch perfect too, each model looks incredibly detailed and fits into the entire world so well.
The voice cast is all impressive too, the usual people that Wes Anderson works with, but all work to create likeable and hilarious characters with each of the animals. George Clooney and Willem Defoe I thought we’re the real stand outs, Clooney’s cocky attitude really bringing out the character of mr fox. It’s exactly how I pictured him when I read the book as a kid.
It all comes together rather well. The film goes at breakneck speed, never stopping for even a moment, with gags and comedy surprises around every corner. There’s a lot of pay off that comes from the humour in certain moments, and adds to each of the characters. Add this to the beautiful looking designs and sets, with a great voice cast and an amazing soundtrack (shout out to Jarvis Cockers song in the middle), and it all works.
