Product Description
Mr. Fox plots the greatest heist ever in the animal kingdom.Amazon.com
The visually ravishing animated movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox follows a fox, voiced by George Clooney and dressed in a natty brown corduroy suit, as he cheerfully and recklessly takes his thieving ways a little too far and brings down the wrath of some sour-faced poultry farmers on his family and friends. Based on a lesser-known book by children’s author Roald Dahl (who wrote Charlie and …
Fantastic Mr. Fox
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March 15th, 2010 at 9:50 am
This is the fifth time in 2009 alone that I run into those animation productions that ruined my joy of getting to movie theaters. After the Ice Age, the G-Force, Planet 51, and the Christmas Carol, I was already fed up with all animation movies. This one topped them all with its silliness.
Even though animations permitted the producers to invent diverse and effective characters, it exposed the weakness of making elegant characters, motions, or plots. The artists put too much labor in making the faces of the characters appear rich and impressive. Yet, all artistic ingenuity were depleted in making gracefully moving or talking characters.
The stiffed and skinny foxes made up a polarized existence that is far inferior to the real world of our beloved animals. Drawing parallels between the conflicts of the survival needs of the farmers and the wolves with those of human conflicts was overreaching. Making the best of enjoying the artistic richness of the movie did not reconcile my discontent with Mr. Fox.
Though most movie theaters display brief description of movies, those pamphlets are meticulously designed to escape the attention of busy people. In theaters where the description posters were intentionally hidden, I never took a chance wasting my time and money on nonsensical stuff. Fantastic Mr. Fox will be my last entrapment in sitting in a theater for a total waste. Beside myself, there was another poor guy sitting in the 120-seat theater. In the same night, I had to see the Blind Side for the sake of getting over my anger of being stuck with wolves suffering from spinal Billiard sticks.
Considering the enormous resources spent on movie display, I doubt that the $20 total per show would pay for the utility usage or the space rental. Even the $4.75 cups of soda in movie theaters are gathering dust from Sunday through Friday. As such, movies theaters would be better off playing the true legendary movies than competing for new high-risk productions.
Rating: 2 / 5
March 15th, 2010 at 10:26 am
This movie gets under way with everything going for it. Star-powered voicing features George Clooney. Merryl Streep’s lovely low tones, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and more. Stop animation has made huge strides even in the age of CGI, and can provide some of the most innovative and engaging imagery around. Basing a movie on a Roald Dahl book certainly won’t hurt it, either – look what Dahl parentage did for ‘James and the Giant Peach’, the various Willie Wonkas, and lots of others.
So, with all this going for it, the movie just didn’t thrill me, and I’m not sure why. The animation, though thoroughly competent, rarely rose above competence – but did so nicely in the “digging” scenes and in any involving smoke. Characters grated on me, especially Mr. Fox himself, who I found irredeemably self-centered, the kind who tends to reward friends’ loyalty with some pretty poor behavior. Also, I’ll happily go along with a forestful of critters in educated professions and snappy tailoring. Within that context (and within his sharp-looking leisure suit), Fox’s claim to being a wild animal rings false – unless “wild” means something more like a frat party than like a jungle.
So, I kept the characters at arm’s length, and the artistry wasn’t enough to pull me in. I’m glad I saw it, but I’m in no rush to see it again.
– wiredweird, reviewing the theatrical release
Rating: 3 / 5
March 15th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
um, hello Amazon? Where is Cate in this OUTSTANDING film? Please correct your credits; it makes me think I am pre-ordering the wrong disc.
***That said***
I am pre-ordering this Blu-Ray because I know that this will be one of those films (like Rushmore) that I reserve for rainy days when I call in sick to work. If you like Wes, just buy it.
Rating: 5 / 5
March 15th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
In A Nutshell: The movie reminded me of some of the movies I saw as a child because the animation is “stop-motion” like the Rudolph’s Shiny New Year and A Year Without A Santa Claus.
Roald Dahl is a brilliant author and James and the Giant Peach was one of my favorite books when I was growing up.
This is a grown up animated story. I tried to get my 4 year old to watch with me but she was uninterested. I think it is because the colors aren’t as vivid and the images weren’t as quick as the movies kids are used to these days.
There were parts I wasn’t comfortable with like farmers shouting, “lets kill kim” before shooting Mr. Fox’s tail off. Also, the scene where Mrs. Fox is bandaging up Mr. Fox’s bloody butt, where his tail came off keeps replaying in my head. I could have done without the bloody bandage. Other than that, the movie was smart, and older children or adults may be more interested than your little one.
It was too wordy and slow for today’s kids to sit through but the idea of stop-motion animation in a new format was fun. I really loved the soundtrack/score.
Rating: 3 / 5
March 15th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this movie. It is not a cartoon but it is not a regular movie, and I just didn’t get it. The movie is also based on a book by Roald Dahl called Fantastic Mr. Fox which I unfortunately hadn’t read before. This movie is adorable and I cannot believe it held my 3 year old and 20 month old’s attention for the whole movie! I know they didn’t really get what was going on, but they were fascinated by it, as was I. The movie was about Mr. Fox who lives a dangerous life as a chicken stealer, then quits when he finds out he is going to be a dad. After a few years, he realizes he is missing something and decides to do a few ‘jobs’ stealing from the meanest farmers in the county. The movie has some great lessons though like: It is okay to be different, Don’t lie, and Work together. I found myself laughing throughout this movie, and I actually won’t mind when my boys want to watch it again! I am always going to pick up the book!
I would recommend this movie to all ages. It is a cute tale and if you loved the book by Roald Dahl, then you have to check it out. I also really liked the voices, for example, George Clooney is Mr. Fox and he pretty much talks the whole movie. I also loved the relationship between his son and nephew – one an outside and the other one popular and good at everything. All the animals though are adorable and great additions to the movie.
Rating: 5 / 5