If I'm honest, the book it's based on isn't the best of Roald Dahl's work. And though it bragged a quirky director who brought in his corral of quirky big names to voice the critters in this tale, this is a movie that at beginning, middle, and end, was a disappointment.
The story, well, it suffered from Hobbititis before The Hobbit was stretched into three movies. Not too much story to tell, so a lot of embellishment. Weird middle-aged angst. "Family troubles." And so. Many. Speeches. Interrupting the flow of the story. It's like at times they forgot they were making a movie and just wanted to hear George Clooney speak.
And the animation. Stop motion is either excellent or mediocre. This fell into the mediocre camp. The movement seemed stiff and robotic, and the characters' eyes were so dead. The plasticine eyes of Wallace and Gromit have more warmth in them.
Anderson's linear storytelling methods don't lend to this kind of art, I think. Moving left to right, right to left, up or down, that may be Andersen's schtick, but it made the film feel really one-dimensional. With mouth and body movement subpar to even the likes of Rankin/Bass.
Still, it was a movie I'd long been curious to see. And thanks to YouTube Free Movies, I've seen it. It was worth the price.
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