This is a quiet movie.Lots of pauses, considerations, moments. It seems like a very deliberate choice - Maybe a nod to a slower style of narration in Japan - but it just gave me ample time to think "...This doesn't make sense."
It's never explained why the dogs don't understand Japanese but understand English besides "Well, most of our voice actors don't speak Japanese,". You could eliminate 80% of said voice actors to no real loss of the main narrative - A boy wants to find his dog that's been exiled.
The stuff with the humans and their government conspiracy is way more interesting than the aspect with the talking dogs. How do you make humans more interesting than talking dogs?
Until about 50 minutes in. Then the movie started to kick up into gear and grow on me.
It looks great, dirty and lived in while very clearly being fake - Bits of fire and steam are represented with fluff. I especially like how nothing is shied away from when it comes to seeing some light gore, or a sushi master prepare food by cutting up and pinning down fresh seafood. Desplat always has a great score.
With quite a few asides to one exchange student, we get to see the 'ordinary' side of this strange life.
There are a few questionable choices but I expected nothing different from a white man who loves the ~aesthetic of things.
It will come down to this vs. Spiderverse on the awards circuit. So far, in the smaller, local critic's circles, I believe Isle is winning by two or three.
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