Fantastic Mr. Fox at Criticker.com (2024)

I'm not sure what everyone sees in this. I'd consider even Tier 8 for this film an overstatement. Watchable, but it's not as charming, funny or witty as it presumes to be. And as much as I can love stop-motion animation, I could just not get into this movie visually at all. Not sure Clooney's forte is voice work, either. The clicking/whistling drove me crazy, and it's symptomatic of the forced quirkiness of the whole film. Just stop doing it already, you look like an idiot. Overall a bit flat.

Wes Anderson's first foray into feature-length animation doesn't sacrifice a shred of his directorial sensibilities; if anything, it amplifies them. Using this meticulous medium, Anderson is able to lean into his sense of precision, absurdity, and dry delivery in a masterwork that's both a comedic tour de force and a thoughtful examination of personal purpose.

Absolutely amazing. A shriveled yet warm and gentle humour pervades the film. I was in complete awe of the story, creativity, voice acting and amount of detail that was put into it. It's fair to say Pixar ("Up") doesn't stand alone this year. I wouldn't mind seeing this film or "Mary and Max" pick up the oscar for best animated feature. Sit back and enjoy.

The sense of humor shown in "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is golden. Genuine laughs based on a great story. A striking visual style coincides with the humor and it just looks wonderful. Superb voice actors to quirky chapter titles, this film doesn't really do anything majorly wrong. The lack of consequences for Fox bugged me a bit.

(Third viewing) "Here, put this bandit hat on." Yet another fantastic Wes Anderson movie. Inspired, witty dialogue and Anderson's meticulous eye for tableaux style compositions are as good in animated wonderland as in his live action films. It measures up with "Rushmore" and "Royal Tenenbaums". No mean feat. An amazing thrillride for children and grown-ups alike. Perfect casting too. Willem Defoe as the overly suave, ridiculously fingersnapping rat steals every scene.

Wow."The Fantastic Mr. Fox" really blows my mind, in a positive way. I really love the book by Roald Dahl, so at first, I couldnt really imagine, how an adaption might look like. After I heard that Anderson took place in th director's chair I had a hunch! This movie looks great with it's stop motion style, and the anarchistic attitude is the right burlesque to today's society. This is just so great, that I have to watch this a lot of times. My first "must have" 2010 !! Don't miss that one!!

I loved it, so you can just consider me Foxtastic Mr. Fan.

Maybe I missed something, Criticker, but 92? I laughed quite a bit, reveled in the voice acting, and some of the visual gags were inspired so I enjoyed myself overall. But I simply cannot tell what it was - really - trying to say, or why it had to be told with a flair bordering on the self-righteous. It felt frivolous, for me, and not sincere enough with the material which shines brightly only in moments.

Cussin' great movie!

visually striking, but ultimately hollow and just kinda dull. there were some funny moments, though- "that's just bad songwriting!"

Pretty cussing awesome. Nice to see Anderson return to form with such a great film. The voice acting is the best I've ever heard, seriously some inspired casting. The writing is superb and it is really funny. I had a grin on my face the whole time. Excellent film.

Superb film, and when I say this I say it as a huge childhood fan of Roald Dahl. Now really this isn't exactly the Fantastic Mr. Fox you remember but rather a loose adaptation of it. It's not for better or for worse. However Anderson's take on the story is still absolutely brilliant in it's own right. Undoubtedly a great movie both kids and adults can enjoy as quite a few scenes had me in tears with laughter. Highly, highly recommended.

As the book is so quintessentially English the lack of Anglo inspiration is a touch of a shame. But this really is a minor quibble. You can forgive this film its little errors, because when the animation and the voice acting are just this perfect, the errors just don't matter. Very well written & just beautiful to behold, once again Anderson's subtle, yet often vibrant style pours out of his filmmaking. Anderson brings the spirit, if not the word of Dahl leaping out of the screen.

Oddly American, and a few unnecessary and overly kiddy quirks (the click-whistle thing is pretty grating), but the pacing's great, the voice acting is superb and the animation is perfect. Less Dahl-y than I hoped, but really seems like Wes Anderson meets Wallace and Gromit. Very fun.

Horrible animation, horrible voice acting, not remotely funny, horrible film. The main character is a jackass and so is his kid; they are impossible to care about. Seriously does this director just think of as many "quirky" gimmicks as he can, find some quirky music, and then order all his actors to speak in a monotone and make the pacing of the film as slow as possible? Just another long slow slog through another boring and pointless Wes Anderson film.

A great project for Anderson - his meticulous attention to detail and the resulting preciousness that infuses all his films works very well in a children's film. The characters and dialogue are dryly humorous, but still heartfelt. And, most importantly, Anderson escapes his fetishistic obsession with aristocratic malaise that has been plaguing his recent films.

A pure golden moment for Anderson who takes his niche of humor and puts it on a plate for kids--and it serves to impress for all ages. The writing is good, the music is used well--and the voice acting works perfectly. I'm impressed that Anderson took a dated kind of animation and did it in a way that is both nostalgic and fresh at the same time.

Danny Ocean meets Wallace & Gromit. Yes, it is pretty kick-ass!

What a fun movie. The dialogue is awesome and the voice-acting was the best I have ever heard. Though personaly, the puppety things kinda scared me, but the visuals overall were quite stunning. It was also very funny. Very original too: I've never seen a movie like this before

Anderson's off-kilter rhythm and stilted quirk is ridiculously well suited to stop-motion. How did I not see this before? The story is inviting and fun, but also prickly in all the right places. Hopefully this seamless new union will breed like stop-motion rabbits.

Clever, enjoyable and very well done, even if I'm not certain it's really a children's movie. Anderson's dry, at times philosophical tone, and the extreme attention to detail and aesthetics that marks all of his films, work well in this context. I always find his movies to be likeable and charming, even if there is always a hard edge there too, and it may be I have underrated them.

Very fun movie. Animation and Anderson are a great mix, and the cast is fantastic.

Brilliant. The best Wes Anderson. 90 minutes of pure confined entertainment that only pixar can emulate in this area of filmmaking.

Very enjoyable...but I wouldn't say fantastic. All the elements are there...its just missing the sincerity and earnestness of a timeless children's classic...which I really shouldn't have been expecting from Wes anyway. A little more Dahl and a little less Anderson would have been the ticket. The animation is cool and marries well with the physical comedy.

Very funny and still has Anderson's slick and hilarious touch of writing directing. Anderson's first kids movie should entertaining (mostly) all ages rather or not it's for everybody. If you don't like watching his stuff then simply don't watch them. It is what it is, and freakin' animated movie done by Wes Anderson, so yeah, it's a great freakin' movie. Give it a shot.

Great animation, great voice cast, and the usual A writing from Anderson and co. This is not only a great animated film, but rarely is the medium of stop motion itself used to add to the humor. A nice alternative to the usual (even if as-good) talking animal format of animated films. Not one flat bit of dialogue or gag, either. Watch for the brilliant Citizen Kane homage.

With exception to the works of Miyazaki, Fantastic Mr. Fox is easily the most original and inventive family film ever produced, assuredly feeling quite unlike anything you have ever seen, (plus it's absolutely hilarious to boot). Seriously, just watch it. Now. You won't regret it.

I really loved this movie. I'm inclined to like stop-motion animation in the first place and this is some of the most pleasing that I've seen. It may not achieve the wizardry of something like Coraline, but that wasn't the intent. Aside from looking lovely it's very funny, clever, and the soundtrack is great. If I have any big complaints it would be that the "cuss" joke was used a bit too much, but I can overlook it.

had to tie a handkerchief round my jaw in order to keep it closed. Feels as if my eyes got laid.

One of the best animated films I've seen in ages (from the West, that is). I almost forgot I was even watching a children's film at times. The voice acting is superb, the animation is great (even though, since it's stop motion, it doesn't look quite fluid), and its just an all around fun movie.

Smart, quirky, and brimming with subtle humor. This stylishly unique animated film is a joy to watch from start to finish.

Lots of fun. Great animation, great music and great voicework. I was a fan of Dahl's work as a child and, although this film takes significant departures from the book, the end result really does it a lot of justice.

Anderson tropes applied to stop-motion animation make for a uniquely successful and thoroughly wonderful experience.

Definitely geared for a certain brand of humor, but if it tickles your funny bone you're in for a treat. The voice acting is simply amazing. Interestingly, Anderson's style and dialogue seem to work even better presented via animation. And that stop-motion work is astounding! FMF is a funny and highly re-watchable film because so much is going on; both visually and allegorically. It celebrates the free spirit and anarchism, but also embraces wholesome family values. How many films can say that?

In trademark Wes Anderson style a dry, witty romp where (in this film in particular) every frame is a cute work of art.

I was concerned about Anderson working in a different medium, but I needn't have been worried. The idiosyncratic use of stop-motion animation suits him perfectly. It is in every respect a Wes Anderson film. The undercurrent of resigned melancholy, the wry humor, the attention to detail, the soundtrack choices. It's a hugely entertaining movie bursting with charm, and even a couple of touching moments. Clooney fits into Anderson's universe quite well, I'd like to see them work together again.

An adaptation screw-up of fantastic proportions. I need to just stop watching Wes Anderson films. I walk away seething just about every time. Where people see a whimsical movie, I see a bastardization of a great children's book. Roald Dahl would put Anderson in the Chokey for this one. I just read the book yesterday and watched this movie for the first time. The scenes are completely out of order and all these new weird characters are added in for no good reason...

Great stop motion. Great comedy. Great voice acting. All I can say is this is a really great movie. Wes Anderson's style translates beautifully to animation and I wouldn't mind seeing him do more. Baumbach and Anderson make a dynamic writing duo and considering they are translating the awesomeness that is Robert Dahl, it's not hard to see why they made such a winner. Do yourself a favor and watch immediately.

Every scene is a delectably detailed diorama, brought to life by endlessly creative animation, perfect voice acting, and marvelous music (a fun soundtrack plus tear-jerking classical crescendos-see Rat's redemption), while a tight script (the wolf encounter is a real cherry on top) showcases remarkable characterization (see the angsty Ash), thoughtful drama (see Mr. and Mrs. Fox's standoff), and a fascinating anthropomorphic vs. wild animal thematic thread alongside its heaps of quirky humour.

I don't know why I deep watching Wes Anderson movies. Yes I do--this one had puppets, and I love puppets. Big points for the puppets in this movie, but they're just another element of the increasing dehumanization of Anderson's films. The puppets don't "act" quite well enough to get feelings across, and as usual Anderson doesn't have much respect for his characters anyway. A cute, but resoundingly hollow and emotionless film.

'Fantastic Mr. Fox' is a smart, witty and disarming fairy tale. The troubles one can have with Anderson's/Baumbach's neurotic sense of humour evaporises when no longer set in the realm of actual people. This is Anderson meets 'Robot Chicken' - and the result is clever, funny and very meta. If it lacks depth for the grown ups, and isn't really a childrens movie (Real estate, death and a horny rat are hardly the best themes) Mr. Fox couldn't care less: He's fantastic, and so is this film.

Neat movie, Mr. Fox is an asshole

self-indulgent poo. should have been much better

A truly beautiful movie with an anarchist's message and an utterly gorgeous style of animation. Hilarious throughout and packing a voice cast that is impossible to improve upon or even duplicate. It's hard to imagine a modern animated film, outside of WALL-E, possibly being any better.

One of the best films of 2009. Very funny and charming and well-made in every respect

What a fun movie. I never figured Anderson's dry and witty humor would translate so perfectly into a children's movie. All of the voice actors did terrific jobs making these "wild animals" seem not so wild. The story was fresh and entertaining, and the vintage style stop motion was absolutely beautiful.

I usually turn my back on those who call Wes Anderson a visionary and auteur, but my god, does he hit his stride here. Far and away, the best animated film of 2009 and one of the most creative film visions by a director in years. Absolutely amazing voicework and a touching story. Simply fantastic.

Wes Anderson's: Angst at the Barnyard.

Generally charming and funny. Wes Anderson has always had visual sensibilities best described as cartoonish, so it's no surprise. The voice acting is good, but the animation is the real star of this picture.

Brings out the adult in every kid.

starts off great: the animation and the world Anderson creates is terrific for the film. The characters are quirky and funny, but then, the film imperceptibly loses something. It's as if the story and characters plateau or don't keep moving in an interesting direction. It's frustrating because I wanted the film to work, but for some hard to pin down reason, it doesn't.

Entertaining enough and surely excellently made, but very flawed. I never cared about any of the characters. In fact, I outright couldn't stand Mr. Fox (or his VA, George Clooney, who I feel is very miscast) who acts terrible throughout the entire film and yet never changes. Honestly, the whole film just felt like one of the dime for a dozen Wes Anderson parodies out there - good for a laugh but pretentiously indulgent and ultimately soulless. It does have its moments, but overall disappointing.

Very entertaining. Mildly sags in the middle, but is bookended strongly. Also, the animation fits the feel of the film wonderfully.

The wolf.

Anderson's wised-up children's film, a labor-intensive stop-motion animated adaptation of the Dahl animal tale. Though the droll result has its charms, such as the use of "cuss" as an all-purpose cussword, as in "I sure the cuss hope so," it's not so much for children as a group or adults as a group as it is specifically for devotees of Anderson, who is able to pursue with puppets and miniature sets his standard visual predilections

It's like Coraline all over again (in the same year!): an animated feature with a unique visual style, but with a story that seemed to completely lack focus, or at the least, failed to grab my attention. Anderson's dry humor that his fans (myself included) love is unfortunately too scattered. And I can't imagine this appealing to kids because, frankly, the close-ups of the foxes are pretty creepy-looking. After loathing Darjeeling, I'm starting to feel like Wes peaked with Royal Tenenbaums.

This was a great little movie. Wes Anderson's style is very present in it which I always enjoy. Throwback animation was fun to watch. Timeless, charming piece of work.

Cuss.

Though this film is a great example of a Roald Dahl adaptation because it is both idiosyncratic and heartfelt, somehow the parts don't usually add up to an entirely cohesive film.

Fun film, very much in Anderson's style but with some nice twists.

It retains Anderson's meticulous visual compositions and his keen wit, verbal and visual, and it clips along at a diverting, enjoyable pace. Still, aside from a third-act funeral for a departed foe, Fantastic Mr Fox's ruminations on human nature -- are we civilized or savage at heart? -- are too slight to really register.

Who knew Wes Anderson could do kids movies? I should have seen it coming with his use of quirky animation/visuals and the whimsical nature of his films. Excellently written with a great (and familiar) cast. My favorite bit being that instead of swearing or bleeping it out, they just used the word "cuss". It was cussing great!

Loved it! The animation, voices, characters, and plot were all very enjoyable. Definitely got a few laughs too.

Wes Anderson! Great cast! Amazing stop motion! org*sm!

a cussin' good time

Wes Anderson always makes things interesting. The voices were great, and I really enjoyed how the movie was made (doll characters). I got a little bored with it and think it could have been better.

I didn't expect to like this at all. It is absolutely hilarious, it had me rolling. The mix of the authentic and the surreal just... works. Anderson adapts his meticulous visual style to fit the animation, and surprisingly, it fits. I don't know how he did it, but it's undeniably a Wes Anderson film. And even more incredibly, it's one of his better ones. I never thought that I would say this, but this film is required viewing for Wes Anderson fans. It's so damned funny.

Anderson creates a fully realized world of idiosyncrasies, and the awesome voice acting gives it life. A visual work of art, and a fun ride through and through. Further evidence that 2009 is the year kids' movies grew up (again).

Another great film from Wes Anderson, full of his usual quirks and witty, intelligent dialogue. Interesting animation and a great cast.

Its been awhile since there's been a good children's movie that celebrates anarchy.

for the first time in my life, i sympathise with landlords instead of nature animals, thanks to wes anderson. why do you have to imply bad people as fat, short and lean? totally outrageous! after that, the humanization of foxes such as driving, renting or religious beliefs will be hypocrisy. also these cute thief foxes kill the chickens and gooses which are accepted not animal by Anderson probably. symmetrical decor illusions and weirdo characters are not enough for a good film.

Wes Anderson seems to have found another way to expose their originality and weirdness: they never looked so fun, like in this charming and engaging animation.

"That's just weak songwriting. You wrote a bad song, Petey!"

Surprisingly uninteresting. I should have loved this--I'm a fan of stop-motion animation and comedies and George Clooney. But this film just didn't impact me. Sometimes the right ingredients just don't meld into a cohesive dish, and this one didn't.

Really, really lame animation. How can so many people like it is a mystery to me. It was booring and pointless. How did it get to the Oscars with Up and Coraline in one category I really dont know.

So arch, mannered and self conscious that it takes too long to get around to actually being fun; quite fun once it gets there though. It does looks great, though the jerkiness of the animation is quite distracting.

More animals that act like people. Who doesn't love that? Oh, and watching snooty farmers get their comeuppance? need I say more?

Wonderfully made, but it seems like it tried to be too quirky for its own good.

Had to see it twice to fall for it completely - but now I'm pretty sure this will be my favourite Wes Anderson picture of all time. The Anderson sarcasm and flair for snappy, dark humour suits the animation genre splendid and makes this both more accessible and irresistible than his live-action work. Fantastic and foxy, indeed.

Beautifully animated, well-crafted, witty and well-paced. Anderson should make more children's films like this one; it suits his trademark style great - although it feels more like a film for the inner child in adults, rather than one for actual children. Which is a good thing.

How can it be, another quirky and fun film by Wes Anderson?! Although it's his first attempt with puppetry, visually this film is fantastic. Voice acting is done by his regular ensemble cast, flawless job here too. Humor is also nothing less I would expect from Anderson. But I wasn't impressed much story-wise. Not the Anderson's best, but good entertainment for the kids and grownups.

I didn't like all of Mr Anderson's previous films, but I think he did a truly Fantastic job in adapting one of my favourite childhood books to produce a film which, even if it wasn't 100% faithful to the original story, suceeded in matching it in terms of creativity, wit, fun, magic and verve. I enjoyed all the vocal performances and will continue to find pleasure in the myriad genius visual touches for many rewatches to come.

Fantastic, indeed. Incredible attention to detail, with some of the best stop-motion you'll find anywhere, complemented by excellent use of light, shadow and color. I loved the way in which Anderson kept his compositions two-dimensional, giving it the quality of a traditionally animated film. It's sly, consistently amusing, and loads of fun. And of course, the soundtrack. "Heroes and Villains" and "Street Fighting Man" in the same movie? f*ck yeah.

Fantastic... More auteurs should indulge in animation (Not you, Tim, go cry in a f*ckin' corner!). I definitely want to see a Cronenberg or John Woo stop motion before they die of supernatural causes.

For some reason I was hesitant to watch this, but the stop-motion is fantastic, the story is wonderfully Wes and this is, all in all, a lovely film.

alienation vs solidarity. how we can avoid a midlife crisis while surviving in the unnatural habitat of the grocery store: be wild, do crimes

I can't believe I didn't catch this film in theatres. An entrancing, amusing, and cute film that just may be Wes Anderson's best. Superb voice work across the board and amazing animation, along with some truly mature themes make it a perfect family film. "Up", "Where The Wild Things Are" and this film will all be looked at in admiration for years to come. A future classic.

Excellent voice work and animation, but the story is flat and the comedy bits are too few and far between. The last third was pretty boring.

It's been a while since I watched a film with a smile on my face the entire time, or something so fun and humorous. Anderson takes advantage of the artificiality of the medium to let his eye for compositions run wild, perfectly constructing every last detail. Combine this with a soothing autumnal color palette and you have his most beautiful film yet. A breezy, refreshing ride.

I was laughing throughout and the wolf bit was one of the best visual gags I've seen in awhile. A good capper and quite touching as well. (it should've ended closer to that moment.) Kids were spoiled with the number of great movies aimed at them in 2009. I wonder if they noticed...

Wes went outside of his wheelhouse by limiting himself to only one Rolling Stones song and didn't even include a Kinks song.

The humour in this is so very very very funny and there are so many lines that could live on, "Here, put this bandit hat on." The animation fits everything perfectly... a more convention form of animation wouldn't have worked as well.

Utterly charming and heart warming. Fresh and fruity all the way. The attention given to detail is amazing, scenes are vibrant, rich and tonefull, dialogue is balanced, witty and endearing. A spectacle

Very entertaining and odd film. I would have been hard pressed to imagine it if someone told me there would be a Wes Anderson animated film and it would totally feel like a Wes Anderson film.

First half is fantastic, second half is kinda languid in comparison. To say this is Wes's worst is kinda like getting an ice cream platter of my favourite flavours and saying which one's the least best

Fantástico.

What can I say, I love everything Wes Anderson does (except Bottle Rocket). The animation is unique enough to be well-worth a watch.

Witty, cute, stylish, fun.

Quirky and surreal, with slightly dodgy animation. Great fun.

Well paced and visually strong. Rewards repeat viewings.