I haven’t seen it, but I have a question for those of you who have (and I think I already have @Darwin‘s take on this). I’m a Wes Anderson fan, for two main reasons. 1) His movies are more about the journey than the destination, and 2) the humor is VERY subtle….there’s a LOT more to his movies than meets the eye. With Anderson, you never exactly know what the ending will be, you just know it will be different than what you expect (as will the entire story for that matter). Which makes him a good fit to direct a Roald Dahl book.
As for Dahl, his books were known for very dark themes, and much like Anderson’s films, they went in unexpected directions and reached appropriately unexpected endings. But thematically, his books were, though loved perhaps MORE by adults than children these days, are by and large Children’s literature. The book on which this movie is based is considered Children’s literature.
So, my question is, despite this being a kids’ book by a kids’ author, done by a director who seems to have a stylistic affinity with the author, this just does NOT look (based only on the previews) like a kids’ movie. It seems like a stop motion Wes Anderson film.
Now, I look at Anderson’s films, usually they’ve been rated R for “language”, which I don’t consider to be that big of an issue, and as such, there is nothing in any of his films that I would have a problem with my 8 year old seeing. But I wouldn’t make him sit through the Royal Tenenbaums, even though it’s in my opinion a cinematic masterpiece. When he’s a teenager or young adult, I’m sure he’ll develop an appreciation for cinematic art, but I don’t expect that of him just yet. I would suspect that much of the humor in these films would slide right past him, he would be unable to perceive the subtlety and nuance that makes this film what it is, and he’d be downright bored.
So, when I see trailers for Fantastic Mr. Fox, it looks less like either adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or Matilda or James and the Giant Peach, than it does like The Darjeeling Limited. It looks to me like the kind of movie that is destined to become a legendary boondoggle. One of those movies that was targeted to the wrong audience. In other words, I’ve been seeing previews for it in every animated movie I’ve gone to with my son for the past 6 months, and he is keen on seeing it, but I’m wondering if it’s going to just be a waste of our time and money first and foremost. I also wonder if it’s even going to appeal to kids enough to get them into the theaters, and if adults who might enjoy the movie are going to be missed because it’s not marketed to them? I wonder if we’re going to have a movie that audiences hate, but film critics and arthouse fans love, but which just completely flops. So I guess first off, would a smart 8 year old enjoy it, and if not, don’t you think they should have marketed this a bit differently, or maybe even say given it to a different director who could have made a kids movie out of a kids book? I guess there’s probably a lot of questions in there, I’m just looking for opinions.