Madeline Stevenson

I first watched this film around summer of 2020, and while I was initially confused by the narrative of the story in parts that weren't as on the nose, I have to say I ended up enjoying this film the more I watched it. I can see where people might find him being "tone-deaf", but Anderson clearly isn't trying to imply cultural appropriation as much as he is interested in moving along a story that contains several moving parts. The scientists, the dogs, the boy, the journalist, the sleazy politicians, there's many focal points that are packed in, and eventually it all comes together where it's relatively cohesive. As for the puppets being called "creepy", the audience will sometimes forget that Anderson heavily relies on a nostalgic look in each of his films (even Rushmore to an extent) and this carries on to his stopmotion productions. Looking at puppets in similar films from the 1960s holds a staunch difference to Anderson's puppets in terms of technique, anatomy, movement and appearance. It's also worth noting that Anderson's technique with puppets has significantly improved since Fantastic Mr. Fox in terms of effects and fluidity. I'd rank this a 4/5 because of the rushed relationship between Atari and the US journalist exchange student, but I will settle for a 5 to help create a dent against the goofy 1-star rankings, since half of them make no sense. Keep up the good work, Wes.