A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

If you love dogs, Japanese culture, Brayan Cranston, cool animation and a superb story, then this film is totally for you!Not apt for catlovers. Finally a movie does some justice!!

Another dry-witted & beautifully rendered feature from the director of Moonrise Kingdom & The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs isn't as instantly appealing as it looks but it rewards our patience & investment with a charming story that gets better as plot progresses.Set in dystopian near-future Japan where an outbreak of canine flu results in all dogs being relocated to a quarantined island, the story follows a young boy who travels to the island in search of his beloved pet and finds allies in five other dogs who assist him on his mission .Written & directed by Wes Anderson, Isle of Dogs employs stop-motion animation to bring its dystopian setting to life and the level of details & vivid colour palette really stand out. But the picture is also marred with problems that are Anderson's own creations, as evident in the film's racial stereotyping & white saviour trope.There isn't much to complain on the technical front as Anderson makes sure every aspect is fine-tuned but he doesn't offer enough about the characters to make us invest in their journey and only expects us to get on board with it just because it is about the bond between a boy & his pet, thus affecting the emotional vibe.Featuring a star-studded cast of Hollywood A-listers, all of whom play supporting roles and are simply forgettable, the film is led by Bryan Cranston & Koyu Rankin and the bond that develops between them during their journey together. There is nothing to talk about Japanese culture here as Anderson uses Japan as his canvas & nothing more.On an overall scale, Isle of Dogs is enjoyable, entertaining & satisfying to a degree but there is nothing memorable about it. The images are beautifully rendered, the stop-motion animation is impressive, and the painstaking craftsmanship behind it is admirable. But thanks to Anderson taking shortcuts every now n then, the final product in the end leaves a lot to be desired.

Isle of Dogs is an animated film with dogs as the stars. The human characters are secondary. Visually it is as good as it gets and the story is good enough to keep the audience watching. A mean mayor in Japan has banned all canines to an island due to a doggy flu. The cure is hidden from the public and a 12 year-old boy must come to the rescue of his pet and the rest of the dogs. A few Japanese language moments had no subtitles and I don't know if this was a mistake. Otherwise, Isle of Dogs provides some much needed distraction from the current news cycle.

A 12-year-old Japanese boy, with the assistance of a small group from the local canine population, journeys across a barren landscape in search of his beloved dog, Spots.A helpful opening title card explains that the Japanese characters in Isle of Dogs speak Japanese (mostly) untranslated, while the dogs' barks have been generously translated into English. The film keeps its promise - the only time a Japanese character's dialogue is spoken in English is when they're on TV with a translator - which means that some parts go over our heads as they do the dogs' (since an Alsatian can't understand Japanese either), but never enough that the audience is alienated or lose track of what's going on. Sadly, there's little to the story - travel here, get some advice, travel there - but the way the script reveals the pasts of the dogs, the 'little pilot' named Atari and the island means there's always something going on to keep your attention, although people who don't like slower films will be fighting off their heavy eyelids (at 102 minutes, this is the second longest stop-motion film ever made).The animation, as you would expect from Wes Anderson, is charming and endearing to the eye much like his last venture into Ray Harryhausen's domain, Fantastic Mr. Fox. However this isn't an especially pretty film; the harsh landscape of an island made almost exclusively from refuse isn't one that lends kindly to Anderson's trademark cutesy style and perfectly centred simplistic shots, though he certainly tries. Instead the charm comes from the doubtless talents of the animators in giving the dogs individual and collective personalities, while the cast of voice actors aids their efforts.The biggest disappointment (not that there are any others worth mentioning) is that the ending is one of those that just happens because 'reasons'; it washes over you and the entire status quo is flipped on its head without being entirely sure why. Isle of Dogs leaves you with lasting messages of the dangers of misinformation, the perils of unflinching obedience to authority, and that man's best friends are bloody awesome - after all, the title itself when spoken makes the person admit their love of dogs!Best Quote: (in Bill Murray's voice) "I was the lead mascot for an undefeated high school baseball team. I lost all my spirit ... I'm depressing."