Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Walking into my first Wes Anderson film without any context is maybe not the smartest move, but it turned out well, all things considered. You don't need context to marvel at the intricate details of the hand-made sets and characters. You don't need context to laugh at the sharp and witty dialogue. And you don't need context to enjoy a damn good story about never feeling satisfied.

The uniqueness of this movie kinda breaks my scoring scale though. I usually subtract points for having predictable characters, but it works here. Ash's feelings of inadequecy or Mr. Fox's recklessness could be described as "one note", but it's one really funny note. I usually subtract points when movies make me suspend my disbelief, but the kind of liminal space that Wes Anderson is known for building makes the suspension of disbelief so natural that I don't question why the dogs can't talk; it's just purely funny. And I subtract points for obvious tropes like Mr. Fox's redemption arc and ending a movie with a dance scene, but somehow it just makes sense here. Clearly I'm out of my league here, so a "high but not perfect" score is warranted at the very least.