Review:
A Review of Fantastic Mr. Fox, a Movie Based on the Book by Roald Dahl

Before I begin this review, I want to be clear that I have not yet read the Roald Dahl book on which the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox is based (but I intend to). So you won’t be seeing any comparisons to the source material here. Also, this review is spoiler free!

In what seems to be a continuing Thanksgiving family tradition, I headed out to the movie theater this past weekend just in time for the nationwide release of the film Fantastic Mr. Fox. The movie is based on a 1970 book of the same name by Roald Dahl (the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, to name a few). It stars George Clooney and Meryl Streep, along with Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, and various others.

Visually speaking, the movie felt like nothing else I had ever seen. Sure, I’d watched stop-motion movies before (I’m a fan of Wallace and Gromit), but nothing quite like Fantastic Mr. Fox. The movie had such a unique look and feel that I felt instantly transported into the fairytale universe that director Wes Anderson (and a slew of animators) had created. In fact, the way the movie trailer looked and felt contributed strongly to the initial appeal and curiosity that brought me into the theater in the first place. Watching the movie itself was like being inside a living children’s book, and made the movie all the more charming as a result.

In addition to a beautiful “set”, the movie also had fantastic voice talent, sound effects, and music. I don’t think there could have been a better pick for the voice of Mr. Fox than George Clooney. He had the perfect amount of poise, charm, and mischievousness for the character. Imagine Clooney’s character, Danny Ocean (from Ocean’s 11) as a Fox, and you can see why he was picked to bring Mr. Fox to life.

One of the unique elements of the voice acting was that the actors recorded their dialogue outside of the studio. If the scene took place in a forest, it was recorded in a forest. If the scene took place underground, well, the dialogue was recorded underground. This method provided an extra dose of realism in an otherwise fantastical movie.