The first time I heard about Isle of Dogs was only a week ago. I don't know why it had not come to my attention and not crossed any of my feeds before then. Once I finally saw the trailer and asked others about it, they had known about it already. Anyhow, I went to see it yesterday and this was my take away.
First let me say that I was shocked that you can now get wine at the theater, guess it's been a while. So with a plastic cup of Pinot Grigio in hand I waited for the movie to start. I didn't really have any huge expectations except that the movie was about dogs.
My only complaint was that there could have been fewer humans in the movie; and more dog interactions. But that is just me. It was an amazing production when you consider how stop motion movies are made. I can't even imagine the time and patience it would take to create the movie. It was done expertly.
Isle of Dogs is set in Japan in the near future when the dog flu sweeps over all the pet and stray dogs and they are banished to a garbage dump island to live out the rest of their lives. That is until some of the humans (the bad guys) decide to euthanize all of the dogs on the island. The battle between good and bad ensues.
The story is mostly about a young boy who loses his guardian dog to the island and he sets out to find him. A gang of previous "pet dogs" take up with the boy and attempt to find his dog for him. Albeit one stray dog (Chief) who was never a pet. He has a rough exterior that he holds strong to retain.
The movie is not for children; it has a few disturbing scenes that would not be okay for young children. Because of the animation idea around the movie; one might think that it is for kids but it is not, in my opinion. Some dark parts of the movie come from the humans who are against the dogs. But there are also good humans in the movie who are trying to save the dogs.
There is some translation throughout the movie so that you can understand some of the Japanese spoken segments. But there are some that are not translated which leaves you with just getting an emotional feel for what is being said.
There are a lot of really big actors who lend their voice to this movie and they are great. Some were recognizable to me, others not.
I don't want to give too much away if you are planning on seeing it. The movie is very artsy and I would assume will be winning awards for the work of art that it is. It is different, not exactly what I thought it would be but worth seeing. Being the dog lover that I am; of course I felt that I needed to see it.
It is definitely a movie that leaves you thinking that this type of situation could actually happen in perhaps a lesser fashion. Something to think about.
Hold tight to your dog and enjoy every second you can with them.
Sherri
