Isle Of Dogs

And so Wes Anderson presents conclusive proof that people who think cats are better than dogs are quite clearly idiots.

The Partially Educated Review

Some perspective (if needed). The recent output of Wes Anderson has left me feeling rather cold. I particularly disliked Moonrise Kingdom and also couldn't entirely get into The Grand Budapest Hotel. I appreciate both of those are opinions in need of justification, but this isn't a review of those films.

I felt the need to establish that; mostly so that this doesn't seem like a review coming from an Anderson fanboy. That I definitely am not. I definitely am a fan of Isle Of Dogs though.

In a not-too-distant future Japan, a flu has spread through all dogs that leads them to be banished to the nearby Trash Island; away from all human population. This causes controversy for a number of reasons, not least of which being that a reported cure for the flu is being ignored by the corrupt, cat loving (so definitely evil) mayor. Said mayor's nephew Atari travels to Trash Island in search of his long, lost dog Spots where he is greeted by several other dogs who undertake to help him on his quest.

There are two things you are guaranteed not to be missing from an Anderson film; vivid imagination and a pretty dry sense of humour. He has, at times, risked becoming a pastiche of himself when you consider the fact that very little changes tonally from film to film. That's pretty much the root of my ambivalence towards some of his other films; making it incredibly difficult to explain why nothing's changed for Isle Of Dogs, but I couldn't stop laughing at it.

The only thing I can possibly nail it down to is the cast (or my love of dogs, but I'm trying to be artistic here damnit!). Much like many of Anderson's films, this is a big name cast with many taking on roles much smaller than they usually would. I guess that speaks volumes towards how much respect Anderson has conjured for himself. The star this time, however, is a newbie to the Anderson fold. Some bloke called Bryan Cranston. I think he did some inconsequential TV stuff.

As Chief, a rather grouchy and wholly begrudging member of our band of heroes, Cranston just about steals the film. His performance is layered with heaps of emotion; which I will refrain from going into lest I spoil some of the character developments. Credit is equally shared with the writers for this; particularly Jason Schwartzman who must have secretly been wanting this role for himself, but takes on another (still good) one instead. If anything, Cranston is so good that he does expose a bit of a flaw in how inconsequential a few of the other characters feel. When you make me fail to notice that Edward Norton's in your film, you've done something wrong.

The beautiful animation echoes that of Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox adaptation (also brilliant), but still feels untraditional enough to capture the eye. The plot warms the heart, particularly the portrayal of Akira; taking the WALL-E approach to character development (though let's not get ahead of ourselves, WALL-E's still better). With a slightly trimmed running time and the better fleshing out of characters, this would have been one of the best films I've seen in a long while. Instead it falls just short of that mark. But only just.

EIGHT out of 10

Black Panther

Wait. Hang on a minute. You mean, a superhero film with black people in it can be just as good as the ones with white people. Well, bugger me silly!

The Partially Educated Review

I don't think there'll be a more important film released this year than Black Panther if only from a point of view of the impact this should (I don't trust the industry well enough to write “will”) have on blockbuster cinema as a whole. In the end though, the biggest trial facing Black Panther was always going to be the same as any other film. Making sure that it was actually good. 

Box office returns are all well and good, but if you're churning out the next Ghost Rider, then the fan reception is always going to overshadow any financial successes and those reactions can sometimes be brutal enough to derail a franchise. God knows that was the last thing we needed here. Not much need to worry there though, because Black Panther is one of the absolute best Marvel films released to date.

The key thing here is the cast. All of them are outstanding; from Chadwick Boseman to Michael B. Jordan and those who I had no familiarity with such as Danai Gurira and Winston Duke. If those names aren't being used as marquee names over the coming years; Hollywood, you have officially f**ked up! I feel kind of bad for not mentioning the rest of the cast, but cast lists are what iMDB is for. Safe to say, everyone pretty much kills it here and they do that whilst experiencing all the same emotions that white people do.

There's one more name that definitely needs mentioning though. Ryan Coogler. A man who I love and hate in equal measures. I love him because he has become one of the most deservedly respected directors working today. He's done that by knowing that the key to any great film is making sure that you put your performances at the forefront and create around them. I hate him because he's only a year older than me and has already released a film that's set the box office alight. Which kind of outweighs it for me. This one's for you, Coogler!

That aside; the world of Wakanda that he has created feels rife with possibilities. It's inevitably the culture change that makes Black Panther stand high when you realise that the plot isn't straying that far away from the Marvel template. You know the action sequences are going to be spectacularly brilliant, just as much as you know that Stan Lee's going to appear at one point (and let's not be mean to a 95 year old man having a bit of a laugh). With the amount of these films coming out seemingly increasing every year, it's always the ones which give you something different that will rise to the top. The real test now is whether they can keep this going.

EIGHT out of 10