Isle of Dogs | Teen Ink

Isle of Dogs

December 25, 2018
By MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
678 articles 0 photos 8 comments

 Isle of Dogs is a unique movie about a twelve year old kid's journey to find his dog, Spots. It all started when the mayor of Megasaki City signs an executive decree that exiles all dogs to Trash Island, because the dogs are coming down with diseases that could spread to humans. The kid, Atari, flies to Trash Island in an attempt to find his dog, Spots, who is the only thing that the boy has and truly cares for.  After he crash-lands, Atari meets a group of dogs that he ends up befriending, and the dogs help him on his journey to discover his best friend. Meanwhile, back in Megasaki City, a scientist attempts to solve the cures for the diseases, runs for mayor, and a girl looks through clues in an attempt to discover the truth that getting rid of all of the dogs was the current mayor's masterplan. While on the quest to find his dog, one of the other dogs, Chief, has his morals and values become challenged, because as a stray dog, he doesn't like to listen to masters. Along the journey, he learns that the boy isn't so bad, and that having a master is actually a good thing. 
 Isle of Dogs is certainly a well done film, but it is definitely a bit quirky. Wes Anderson, the director of the movie, decided that the movie should be two=dimensional, so there really isn't any diagonal movement, which makes some of the characters' movements a little odd. However, the movie is certainly charming and has a quality that most movies will absolutely not have, in that the visuals of the movie make it look like it is the crude imagination of someone filled with child-like wonder. The movie is generally joyous, but parts of it are strangely dark, making the tone at certain times a little confusing. The voices of the dogs are a perfect match for the characters and help to make the movie feel more magical, which is a plus, because the movie has a fairy tale vibe to it. 

 The actual plot of Isle of Dogs is an intriguing one and is actually a coherent story. The beginning of the movie brilliantly sets the stage for the rest of the film to follow and does a good job of introducing the main characters, while also allowing audiences to get used to the weird universe that exists in the movie. The middle of the movie progresses the movie fairly well, and there are definitely a lot of obstacles towards the protagonist in this section, so that does help to make the movie more interesting. The enticing ending of the movie is heartwarming and probably one of the best aspects of the movie, since it is able to make viewers feel good on the inside. Isle of Dogs is able to create an insane amount of character development, and nearly every major character in the film changes from start to finish, and that's actually a pretty impressive feat to accomplish. 

 Not only does Isle of Dogs sit well with viewers, but critics also felt a great deal of satisfaction with the movie. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie an outstanding 89%, which is an extremely high score, and IMDb gave the movie an outrageously good 7.9/10, which is actually a lot better than it seems. A whopping 90% of Google users liked the movie, and the only people who didn't like the movie were probably those who weren't the biggest fans of the unusual style of the movie. However, overall, the movie was highly regarded by both critics and watchers, because it's simply a canine masterpiece that really brings out the true spirit and personalities of dogs. 

 Isle of Dogs is definitely worth seeing for a wide variety of audiences, because it is able to showcase people's love for dogs and how far a boy will go for his dog in a fantastic manner that superbly depicts loyalty, the power of friendship, underdogs teaming together, and, of course, the true might of dogs. 


The author's comments:

"Because he's a twelve year old boy, dogs love those." - Nutmeg


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