Fantastic Mr. Fox - The Re(al) - view

Truly a Fantastic film! (excuse the pun) But this is certainly one of the best animated features ever made and I can't help but be angry at myself because it took me so long to see such a Fantastic film (again with the pun, it's unintentional).

Wes Anderson

I've been a fan of Wes Anderson's works, particularly The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited, there's always a uniqueness to his movies -- especially his style, which is always a pleasure to watch. The manner in which the story was told was beautiful (albeit an adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's book), as it felt like I was actually reading the book. The production for this film was top-notch!

The animation -- stop motion (a.k.a. old school animation) was utilized beautifully, particularly with the scruffy nature of the characters, the set and the inclusion of the wild-nature of the animals (reference to the manner through which the foxes eat) which is usually forgotten in most animated movies (of course except Pixar).

The script was good but much praise should deservedly go to the actors (voice, that is); with George Clooney as the smooth talking semi-retired crook - Mr. Fox; Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, Jason Schwartzman as their twisted and sullen son, Ash Fox; Eric Chase Anderson as Ash's soft spoken, charming cousin Kristofferson Silverfox. While the movie's main antagonist - Franklin Bean (voiced by Michael Gambon) was baaaaaaaaad, there was yet another whose appearance and speech captivated me the most - voiced by Willem Defoe, Rat! My favorite character in the movie whose "battle" scars told yet another story of a criminal past, the manner in which he spoke was/is simply brilliant; plus his stylish yet grim demeanor giving yet another outlook on rats (contrasting Ratatouille's). 

Other notable voices include Owen Wilson's, Bill Murray's, Brain Cox's and Adrien Brody's.

Finally, though the finger snapping, was an icing on the cake, the description of Bean's alcoholic cider is ... je ne sais quoi. 

Here's how Mr. Fox puts it - This is some of the strongest, finest alcoholic cider money can buy, or that can even be stolen. It burns in your throat, boils in your stomach, tastes almost exactly like pure, melted gold.

Sad thing it had to contend with Up at the oscars.

NB - The animals are really stylish, especially in the suit department.