Being a minor-level film nerd, I love Wes Anderson.

Wes Anderson, if you’re not familiar with his work, is a director who produced movies such as: “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” and the recently released “Isle of Dogs.”

He has a very distinct, interesting style to all of his work that I love; it feels like stepping into a new whimsical world for each movie. If you want to know more about his common themes, common characters, or about his film style, I would recommend checking out this video from one of my favorite YouTube channels, Screenprism:

You Know It's Wes Anderson IF ...

There are a few things that I want to touch on about “Isle of Dogs.” I saw it in the theater a few days ago and initially loved it. “Isle of Dogs” may even be the best Wes Anderson movie so far; the movie that best encapsulates who he is as a person and director.

However, I do have a few problems with it, including how he portrayed the culture of Japan.

I’m not going to go into great detail, because I really have no authority on the subject, but many critics are calling out Anderson for cultural appropriation. I didn’t see it at first, but I completely understand why they’re saying this.

“Isle of Dogs” is set in Japan, specifically the city of Megasaki. There is an old rivalry between everyone who loves dogs and the Kobayashi family who is known for loving cats. Eventually, in the future, a Kobayashi is mayor of Megasaki and decides to banish all dogs to Trash Island because of several diseases that are dominating the canine population.

With the overwhelming support of the public, the first dog sent to Trash Island is Spot, best friend to the mayor’s ward, Atari. About six months after Spot is sent away, the movie focuses on a specific pack of dogs - Rex, King, Duke, Boss, and Chief.

They witness Atari’s plane crash on Trash Island and discover that Atari is trying to find and retrieve his lost best friend, Spot. There are many scenes throughout the movie that are filled with Japanese stereotypes like sumo-wrestling or sushi. They’re visually pleasing, but were they necessary to the story?

On the other hand, his stop-motion is purposeful and beautiful. I love that it’s obvious how much thought was put into each and every shot. For instance, the best part about every character were the eyes. Since dogs can’t really give as detailed face expressions as humans can, Anderson chose to focus all the emotion and character into the eyes.

I loved it. This highlighted unique parts of every character’s personality and added a new division of humor to the story. My favorite character is probably Bryan Cranston as Chief; the head of the pack of five, he has a seemingly hard shell and was a stray back on the mainland.

I’ve always been more of a cat person myself, but I can understand the appeal for a dog after watching Anderson’s latest masterpiece.