‘Fox’ is usual Anderson

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was an animated movie ... that didn’t use computer graphics? Stop motion animation hasn’t been an industry standard since I was a young ‘un who delighted in the antics of Wallace and Gromit. And while the animation was truly fantastic, it was about the only thing in the movie that was.

Between coolly delivered jokes and frighteningly funny visual tricks, there’s only the sad, depressing adult drama of a family of foxes whose patriarch puts them in danger through his inability to stop stealing from the neighboring farmers. Soon, all the woodland creatures are digging their way to safety as Boggis, Bunce and Bean stake out the countryside with an arsenal of deadly tools.

Seeing as it was coming from Wes Anderson, I didn’t expect the movie to be a whimsical children’s comedy. But he could barely preserve an ounce of the original story’s lighthearted fantasy, instead crafting something that’s hip, serious, and too much like his usual fare.