The last time I wrote about a Wes Anderson film was for The Grand Budapest Hotel when I said that his films are essentially cartoons for adults. This is doubly true for Isle of Dogs. It features Anderson’s usual regulars plus one or two new names like Bryan Cranston all in service of a film that is well made and delightful but amounts to nothing more than pure entertainment.

In response to a viral infection that affects dogs, the mayor of Megasaki City has exiled all of the city’s dogs onto an island of garbage. Among them is Spots, a guard dog owned by the mayor’s own nephew Atari. The boy steals a plane to get to the island in search of his dog. He is met by a pack of dogs led by Chief who accompany him on his quest. They begin by travelling to see a pair of elderly dogs who are said to know everything about the island. Meanwhile on the mainland, a group of  students are determined to fight against the mayor’s regime. Led by American exchange student Tracy Walker, they scramble to find proof that the mayor is at the center of an evil anti-dog conspiracy and that an effective vaccine for the dogs exist.

The unusual affectation here is that all of the dogs speak English while the humans, with the exception of Tracy, speak Japanese and they are mutually unintelligible to one another. At the same time, Atari doesn’t seem surprised when the dogs are able to build rafts and the like so it’s just one of those things that you need to take in stride. It does ensure that the dogs are the main characters and not Atari and most of the humor is in their deadpan reactions and dialogue. Anderson received complaints about this film’s use of Japanese elements due to concerns about cultural appropriation. It’s true that the references are superficial and mainly stylistic only but given the type of film that this is, it’s fine and adds to the quirkiness factor that makes the director’s films all so much fun.

My main complaint is that the film has a softer touch than I’d expected. When they show the two packs of dogs fight at the beginning, one of them actually loses an ear and I thought that would set the tone for the film as a whole. It turns out however that this is a feel good film the whole way through with nary a hint of real risk or danger. I was also disappointed with how the story ditches Chief’s original gang as soon as they meet up with Spots’ group as they seemed to have more interesting personalities. That also marks the point where the dogs’ feats become increasingly more implausible.

Isle of Dogs still manages to not be dumb and, as I’d said, it’s a lot fun and has great visuals. I still maintain that it’s an insubstantial film with no ambition other than to deliver entertainment.