Isle of Dogs

There was a time in my life when I used to giggle at the thought of another country and their citizens treating their cattle as equals to human beings. I just couldn’t imagine letting something that my family threw on the BBQ pit with regularity walk around my living room while I was trying to watch The Cosby Show. But after some guy let his dog run up to me the other day and basically eat my headphones while they were still in my ear, and essentially laugh it off as if it was his cute baby taking their first ever poop, I realized that we as Americans are now treating our dogs as equals.

Where else can a dog maul a 4 year old child to death and the parents of said child decide to still keep him around as a pet? In what other country will someone come up to you and threaten to take your life simply because you decide to take target practice with a photo of a dog while they practice shooting at a human target? Ok, so full disclaimer, I actually saw that last example on the show Atlanta but we all know that most fiction is based off of reality so that example still counts in my book. The point is, have we as a society lost our collective minds or am I simply just a bitter old Black man whose ex-girlfriend’s obsession with her stupid dog caused me to reach this point? I’m willing to admit that it’s probably a mixture of both.

Well in Wes Anderson’s latest flick, Isle of Dogs, he introduces us to a world where the Japanese have decided to protect their citizens by shipping all of the country’s dogs off to a deserted island. Now this is an agenda I can actually get behind! In this stop motion animated alternate universe, society has turned its back on dogs in favor of cats and because of this a war breaks out and dogs are brought to the brink of extinction. But thankfully for dog lovers everywhere, this brave young warrior steps in and saves the day. This salvation however is apparently only temporary as the remaining dogs have somehow developed a rare disease that not only threatens their existence but that of humans as well as there’s a chance it can cross species. The leaders in charge decide that it’s in the best interest of our race to isolate them despite the fact that a possible cure is imminent.

Well as the dogs are being sent off to this island full of trash, there is one young boy who refuses to let his beloved pet die on this disgusting island alone. So he sneaks off in a single engine plane to find his dog Spots despite the fact that it was his uncle who put the order into effect. And once he arrives, he soon realizes that he must now rely on this rag tag group of dogs who spend their entire days scrapping and clawing for whatever little food is left on the island while reminiscing about the good ole days of yesteryear where they were show dogs, bird hunters, or simply had owners who put them ahead of anything else. Everyone is onboard with helping the boy except for the packs toughest member, Chief (Bryan Cranston), who goes along with the pack but only because he has to. Will they find the boy’s dog before his uncle finds him? Is his dog even alive? And if he isn’t, how long before the other dogs all join him in death and leave the world to the evil cate to rule?

Wes Anderson’s humor is known for being a bit esoteric but in this particular film it seems to be more so than usual. If you’ve never seen an Anderson flick before or you’re only a casual fan at best, this is not the film for you. All of his movies try and bring humor to some of life’s darkest or most difficult moments and this is certainly no different. In Isle, he takes on abandonment, desperation, government corruption, and yes, even love, the last of which gives this film the lightheartedness the story so desperately needed.

Forty minutes into the film, the running joke that there are dogs who talk and act like 40 year old white men gets a little stale, so Anderson had no choice but to focus on a universal theme that both dog and cat lovers can identify with. Despite all of the awful things that are happening in this world, love somehow conquers all. You see it amongst the group of dogs who were forced to band together to simply survive, you see it in the boy who will do anything to reunite with his pet, and you even see it in the gruff Chief.

This film is entertaining and Anderson is still at the top of his game but just know that Isle is not for everyone. This is like going to see a side project of your favorite band, you may be freaking out over the fact that James Murphy is playing an all acoustic ukulele set at Stubb’s BBQ but that doesn’t mean that everyone who’s heard an LCD Soundsystem song will be down.

I give Isle of Dogs a rating of FRESH and suggest that all Anderson fans pop in. And for the record, I don’t really hate dogs, just my ex, so please don’t call the ASPCA on me and have them throw red paint on me while I’m eating my hot dog (pun intended) at lunch.