Fantastic Mr. Fox is an animated movie full of mischief and sardonic wild animals.

Filmmaker Wes Anderson has reshaped the work of Roald Dahl to fit the big screen, tossing in plenty of his distinguishing ironic humour in the process.

Mr. Fox (George Clooney) is dissatisfied with his life and doesn’t want to continue living in a hole. Against the good advice of his lawyer (a badger voiced by Bill Murray) Mr Fox and his wife and son move into a beautiful house in a hollow tree.

The tree borders three farms operated by Boggis, Bunce and Bean, crabby humans who raise poultry and make apple cider (the alcohol-content kind).

Mr. Fox has promised Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) that his days as a chicken thief are over, but he just can’t resist a few more jobs. He starts stealing ducks, chicken and cider from Boggis, Bunce and Bean — that’s what foxes do, don’t you know — and the farmers respond with hysteria and overkill. And guns and tractors.

Can the wily Mr. Fox outwit them again and again?

Fantastic Mr. Fox has a sibling rivalry subplot that involves Mr. Fox’s son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and his superstar cousin Kristofferson (Eric Anderson), a kid who is calm, smart and athletic. The movie also has unexpected dance scenes, funny lines and fabulous weirdo characters, chief among them being Rat (Willem Dafoe), a vain rodent who guards the cider storehouse. Rat looks like a gang member from the ’50s and fancies himself to be quite the tough.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is an animated adult story, with adult problems under investigation and family issues all around. The characters say ‘cuss’ instead of any swear word, as in, ‘What the cuss’, or ‘It’s a total cluster-cuss’; that in itself becomes bizarrely funny, adult code language in a surreal animated world that by rights should belong to kids.

The best things about Fantastic Mr. Fox are the soundtrack, an extraordinary affair that involves, among others, the Beach Boys and Burl Ives, and the animation. This is stop-motion animation, with all its idiosyncrasies intact, and the movie is generally a treat to look at (and listen to.)

Whether it’s a treat worthy of 90 minutes of your time is a decision best left to fans of Wes Anderson’s movies. After The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited, some grew weary of it all.

For this viewer, Fantastic Mr. Fox eventually became somewhat tedious. By the time Mr. Fox has gone over the animals’ Latin names, listed their talents and inspired them to be proud and brave on a rescue mission, the energy of the picture has begun to collapse. Mind you, it’s still subversive and manic enough to appeal to children.

(This film is rated PG)
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