'Isle of Dogs' (PG)

*****

In the not-so-distant future, all dogs are exiled from Japan to the 'trash island' just off the coast. Desperate to be reunited with his beloved pet, a young boy, Atari, sets out to find his dog among the many canines abandoned there. 

Wes Anderson has a style of film making that can only be categorised as 'Wes Anderson'. A quirky director with an eye for the symmetrical, bold colour palettes and finer details which add up to make a wonderfully realised whole, he has crafted a back catalogue of films that can only be described as polarising: whilst some revel in the whimsical charm, others find them frustrating and irritating. Into this mix comes Isle of Dogs, a wholly original tale of a young boy in search of his pet, Spots. Utilising all the idiosyncratic Anderson tropes, it marries a rag-tag group of mutts to a child with an aeroplane bolt in his skull in a perilous adventure across a littered landscape - and it's brilliant. Emotive, touching, funny, sad and clever all in equal measure, it is without a doubt one of his best, both artistically and in terms of story.

Visually, the film is stunning; a seamless fusion of intricate stop-motion, cartoon animation and puppetry, it makes for a very visceral experience that you want to reach out and touch. With beautiful real-life sets providing the backdrop, it looks breathtaking. From the smallest ruffle of wind in the dogs' fur to the welling of tears in the eyes of the human characters, each aspect as been pondered over with care and precision - it is impossible to notice all the detail in each frame! Interweaving the models with sections of drawn animation, the story comes to life in a multi-faceted medium that's a joy to behold. However, do not be fooled - simply because this is an animated film, that does not make it a children's film, and I was actually rather surprised at the PG rating. Undoubtedly allegorical, it touches on themes of ethnic cleansing, dictatorship, animal abuse and testing, the death of parents and murder, all alongside a constant sense of threat loss. Indeed, there is even a concentration camp-esque set up complete with poison gas! Some sections are even quiet scary, from the mechanical dogs, to the strange, vampiric appearance of some of the human characters. Similarly, the aftereffects of the human testing on the dogs is also quite distressing. Despite this, however, it is nonetheless an uplifting film, with plenty to marvel at and enjoy.

A tale that marries tricky adult themes with an unbridled sense of childlike joy, Isle of Dogs is perhaps one of Wes Anderson's most accessible films to date. That doesn't mean he has compromised his style of film making, however - he has simply touched upon a story that is both relatable and emotive. Beautiful to look at and artistically outstanding, it makes for a touching viewing experience about man's best friend.