So hipsters apparently hate Wes Anderson for his brand
Fantastic
of corduroy shellacked, indie coopting and twee spewing. Perhaps this was justified as the decline in quality of his movies (and American Express commercial) in recent years has been noticeable.
But right now, don’t hate. Appreciate. Because The Fantastic Mr. Fox is a triumph, and Inverted Soapbox Heartily Endorses you going to see it.
Part of the reason it succeeds so well is that it uses the stylized talents of Anderson as a vehicle to let the speculative forces of Roald Dahl’s imagination push through. The film is funny and sweet, intelligent and creative in ways we haven’t seen in any films by Anderson (or any other director). Sitting in the theater last weekend, the first indication that everything with this movie is going to be all right is the opening shot and title card: a stop motion but realistic-looking hardcover version of the Dahl book looking like it was pulled directly from the shelves of my elementary school library, its Dewey Decimal System code visible on its spine. Continue reading
Inverted Soapbox 