Mr. Fox (George Clooney) is a reformed bird thief turned newspaper columnist, living the quiet life in his hole with his wife (Meryl Streep) and son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman). Experiencing what can best be described as a mid-life crisis, Mr. Fox decides that he wants to live above ground, in a home with a view. To this end, he buys, against the advice of his badger lawyer (Bill Murray), a nice hardwood tree atop a hill overlooking acres of scenic farmland. The three nearby farms are owned by a trio of nasty farmers, all known to do nasty things to creatures that try to steal from them. The temptation is too great and Mr. Fox slips back into his thieving ways, scheming up a master plan to hit all three farms on subsequent nights. His actions incur the wrath of the farmers, who turn their full attention to destroying Mr. Fox. The farmers, lead by Franklin Bean (Michael Gambon), have no regard for the other animals that might suffer in the wake of their vengeance, and thus the entire animal community is put at risk. Mr. Fox devises a scheme to atone for his actions, thereby saving his family and, in the process, coming to the realization that sometimes, being fantastic is simply a matter of appreciating your surroundings and taking care of those that depend on you.
A word of warning, don't be put off by the stylization and presentation of Fantastic Mr. Fox. At first glance, the stop-motion claymation seems out of sorts with modern technological abilities. It is the equivalent of watching a standard definition VHS tape on a high definition television set. However, the awareness of this look, which Wes Anderson certainly intended, quickly becomes accepted as the movie progresses. Equally odd is the quirky dialogue and strange pacing. Anyone familiar with Mr. Anderson's earlier works will recognize this as nothing unusual for the director. As diverse and unaligned as all of these various parts may seem, they work strangely well together, enhanced by the excellent voice-acting of the cast, which, in addition to those previously listed, includes cameo roles by such well known actors as Willem Dafoe and Owen Wilson.
Aside from the movie, there are several bonus features included. One, entitled Making Mr. Fox Fantastic is a behind-the-scenes jaunt broken into six smaller segments. These segments cover scripting, the animation and casting, among other things. While these featurettes are largely overlooked much of the time, this one proved to be interesting and insightful. Also included is a look at the works of Roald Dahl and A Beginner's Guide to Whack-Bat, a game that features prominently in the story. The sound quality of the Blu-ray version was outstanding. The 5.1 DTS-HD master audio added tremendous depth to a make-believe world, with sharp cracks, deep rumbles of thunder and piercing whistles, all of which were integral to the story-telling. Whether or not the visuals benefited from the Hi-Def offering is open to debate. While every little detail came through crystal clear, it also made any inconsistencies much more apparent. This is an issue that will continue to plague animated and CGI movies for years to come, but thankfully, while Fantastic Mr. Fox may not have benefited from Hi-Def, it was clearly not adversely affected, due largely to the style of animation.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is an extremely entertaining movie and, like so many movies today, is several layers deep in complexity. Children will enjoy the odd look, witty commentary and quirky characters while adult viewers will also be privy to the underlying themes of everyday life, handled in a brilliant and interesting manner. The look and feel may not be for everyone, but for those that enjoy an eccentric, fun and heartfelt journey, Fantastic Mr. Fox is certainly worth the time to see.
