Don't be fooled into thinking Wes Anderson's latest is a feel-good family film.
Yes, it is stop-motion animation and, yes, the film's heroes are a group of talking dogs (translated into English from their native dog, as noted at the start of the picture) and a 12-year-old boy (occasionally, but
not always, translated via subtitle from his native Japanese) but that's where the kid-friendliness ends.
No spoilers here but the story is filled with dirty politics, assassinations, incineration, fatal disease, vicious fights and grim death. I liked it a lot.
Given that laundry list of dark material, it's odd to now turn around and say that Isle of Dogs is also thoroughly charming, wonderfully offbeat and delightfully imaginative. But there you go.
Set in the near future, a major Japanese city banishes all dogs to a nearby island where the city dumps its rubbish. Pets and strays band together to battle the hostile environment and each other in a life or death fight for survival. But when a young boy arrives on the island looking for his beloved pet, a ragtag gang of dogs agrees to help him.
