Fantastic Mr. Fox

This could be one of those reviews where I make the film sound rubbish.  I'll have to choose my words carefully, because I thoroughly enjoyed The Fantastic Mr. Fox from start to finish, from Mr Fox stealing chickens to "Heroes & Villains" by The Beach Boys to Jarvis Cocker's song being interrupted by one of the characters telling him that it's rubbish.

FARMER BEAN:  That's bad songwriting!  You wrote a BAD SONG!

I hope you've got the idea that this is not your typical children's animated feature.  To be honest, it is not a children's film at all.  It is like director Wes Anderson wants us to enjoy the joke of cute stop-motion animals delivering the indie-sarky, dry lines you'd normally get in movies like "Garden State" or "Juno".  It's a combination that you'll either hate or love, but I found the extremely earnest delivery of mock-serious lines in ridiculous animated situations very funny.  

My favourite character was probably Ash, the surly teenage son of Mr. Fox who is short, uncoordinated and very jealous of his cousin Kristofferson who is tall, thoughtful and excels at everything.  All Ash wants is to impress his father by going on a chicken stealing mission while wearing a bandit-hat.  This leads him to team up with Kristofferson on a dangerous mission -

ASH:     Okay.  You'd better put on your bandit-hat.  I don't have one myself, so I modified a tube sock.  
            (They put on their hats.  Ash's sock flaps about on the top of his head)
KRISTOFFERSON:    We look good.
ASH:     We do.

Wes Anderson's film is based on the book by Roald Dahl, but aside from lifting the plot I doubt it bears any resemblance whatsoever.  Filled with good jokes (Ash drinking grape juice, and every appearance by Kylie the Opossum) a terrific soundtrack and lots of "cussing" I thought it was a delight, but if you're not a fan of indie films you'll probably come away annoyed and disappointed.  9/10

MR. FOX: Why a fox?  Why not a horse, or a beagle or a bald eagle?  I'm talking existentially here.  And how does a fox achieve happiness without, pardon the expression, a chicken between the teeth?
KYLIE:  I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds illegal.