ISLE OF DOGS | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"ISLE OF DOGS"
(2018) (voices of Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin) (PG-13)

QUICK TAKE:: Animated Dramedy: A number of dogs, banished to a trash island by an anti-dog mayor, help a boy try to find his pooch who was the first sent to that remote location, all due to most canines coming down with dog flu and snout fever.

PLOT:

In Japan in the near future, most dogs have come down with dog flu and snout fever. Coming from a long dynasty of loving cats and hating dogs, Megasaki City Mayor Kobayashi (voice of KUNICHI NOMURA) orders that all dogs be banished to the remote Trash Island in order to keep humans safe.

That's despite Professor Watanabe (voice of AKIRA ITO), who's planning on running against Kobayashi in the next mayoral election, stating he's close to finding a cure. And the first dog sent off is Spots (voice of LIEV SCHREIBER), the protector dog for 12-year-old orphan Atari (voice of KOYU RANKIN) who just so happens to be Kobayashi's nephew.

Six months later, Atari gets a hold of a small plane and heads for Trash Island to look for Spots but ends up crash-landing and is saved by a small pack of domesticated dogs -- Rex (voice of EDWARD NORTON), King (voice of BOB BALABAN), Boss (voice of BILL MURRAY) and Duke (voice of JEFF GOLDBLUM) -- and one stray in the form of Chief (voice of BRYAN CRANSTON) who wants nothing to do with humans.

Instead, he's interested in the likes of former show dog Nutmeg (voice of SCARLETT JOHANSSON), but decides to help the canine quartet assist the boy in finding Spots. After realizing skeletal remains are not of that dog and that he may be alive elsewhere, they seek out the help and visions of Oracle (voice of TILDA SWINTON) and her assistant, Jupiter (voice of F. MURRAY ABRAHAM).

At the same time, American foreign exchange student Tracy Walker (voice of GRETA GERWIG) is leading protests against the Mayor's anti-dog decree but must be cautious since Kobayashi's "hatchet man," Major-Domo (voice of AKIRA TAKAYAMA), is an intense, Lurch-like fellow who does the mayor's bidding.

As the dogs help the boy look for his former pooch, little do they realize what plans the mayor has to deal with the "dog problem" once and for all.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Being an animated movie (stop-motion style) about dogs could prove enticing, but it's likely teens who are fans of films by director Wes Anderson will probably be the ones who most want to see this.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For thematic elements and some violent images.

That's just the introduction of this review. The full review -- available to our members -- includes summaries of the sex, nudity, profanity, violence and more (15 categories) so you won't be surprised by what you might see or hear in this movie.

We have two options for you:

1) If you're ready to sign for a monthly ($5/month) membership, you can sign up now and get immediate access to this review, others released this week, and thousands of others going back several decades.

We offer a 30-day, money-back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose by signing up. If you're not happy with what we offer, simply contact us and ask for a refund and we'll process that right away.

2) If you want to check out our site first, we invite you to sign up for a FREE 3-day Pass into our Membership Site to our site so that you can finish reading the review as well as take a look at the thousands of other reviews on our site.

No credit card is needed and there's no obligation to continue after the 3 days (although we hope you'll like what you see and then join us as full members).

I have subscribed to ScreenIt for more than a decade. I check in every week to take advantage of their amazing services. Not only does their site provide a glimpse of exactly what content a movie offers, I've found the “Our Take” reviews and ratings for each movie to be right on the money every single time. I've referred dozens of friends to this service because my #1 resource for deciding whether or not to show a movie to my kids, or to see one myself, is ScreenIt.com!

Josh Nisbet
Director, State of CA Public Sector

I signed up to get Screen It weekly reviews a long time ago, when my kids were young and I wanted to know more about movies before we went to a theater or rented. Now one child is in law school, other in undergraduate, and I still read the weekly Screen Its! It helps me know what my husband and I want to see or rent, and what to have waiting at home that we all will enjoy when my "kids" come home. I depend on Screen It reviews. They usually just present the facts and let me decide if the movie is appropriate or of interest for my family and me. Thank you for providing that service, Screen It!

Patti Petree
Winston Salem, NC

I have 4 children who are now in college. I signed up for Screen It when my children were pre-teenagers. Often my children would ask to see a movie with a friend and I wished I could preview the movie prior to giving permission. A friend told me about ScreenIt.com and I found it to be the next best thing to previewing a movie. The amount of violence, sexual content, or language were always concerns for me and my husband as we raised innocent kids with morals. We constantly fought the peer pressure our kids received to see films that in our opinion were questionable. With the evidence we received at Screen It, our kids couldn't even fight us when we felt a film may have been inappropriate for them to watch. Thank you, Screen It. Continue to make this helpful service available to everyone, but especially the young parents.

Christine Doherty
Machesney Park, IL

Screenit.com is an amazing resource for parents, educators, church groups or anyone who wants to make an informed decision whether a movie is suitable for their viewing. The reviews and content descriptions are so detailed I am mystified how the reviewers can put them together.

Scott Heathe
Vancouver, BC

I love screen It! I don't know what I would do without it. It is well worth the membership. Before we take our son to the movies we check it out on screen it first. Thank you SO much for making it. Keep up the good work & keep 'em coming!!!

Patrina Streety
Moreno Valley California

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.