Journalists from The French Dispatch, a Kansas magazine based in Ennui-sur-Blasé, France, write four short stories to commemorate their editor, Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Bill Murray), who died. The magazine's staff include Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wilson), J.K.L. Berensen (Tilda Swinton), Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand), and Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright), among others like the cartoonist (Jason Schwartzman) and copy editor (copy editor (Elisabeth Moss).

      The French Dispatch is essentially an anthology of four short stories with a wrap-around story involving the death of a beloved magazine editor. In the first story, a painter, Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio Del Toro), incarcerated in an asylum paints a prison guard, Simone (Léa Seydoux) nude and soon gets an offer from an art dealer, Julien Cadazio (Adrien Brody) for his paintings. In the next story, a student, Zeffirelli B. (Timothée Chalamet), sleeps with an older woman, Lucinda (Frances McDormand) who helps him to write a manifesto. In the third story, a TV host, Liev Schreiber, interviews Roebuck Wright about an article he wrote about Lieutenant Nescaffier (Stephen Park), the personal chef of a police commissioner (Mathieu Amalric). In the final vignette, The French Dispatch's staff gather to write an obituary for their editor. None of the stories stands out per se, but they're each certainly very different. The third story is the most dull and convoluted one among all of them. Writer/director Wes Anderson bombards the audience with too many characters none of whom are memorable. Did I mention that Willem Dafoe, Bob Balaban and Lois Smith are also in the film? Angelica Houston provides the voice-over narration. Despite so many actors and four vignettes, there's very little depth, warmth, wit or laughs for that matter. Wes Anderson tries too hard to please the audience, but doesn't quite succeed this time around. There's plenty of Wes Anderson's trademark whimsy, though, but it's not nearly as refreshing as it felt in Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums.

      When it comes to cinematography, set design and costume design, The French Dispatch excels which is what you would expect from a Wes Anderson film. He plays around with aspect ratios and black-and-white cinematography that adds plenty of visual style. Stylish visuals can only go so far, though. What about entertainment? Emotional depth? Insights? Perhaps The French Dispatch would work better as a movie to study in film school scene-by-scene rather than with an audience at a movie theater. At a running time of 1 hour and 48 minutes, it's too bad that The French Dispatch is ultimately less than the sum of its parts.

      Yaizael (voice of Fumika Shimizu) from planet Vega stops a meteorite from striking planet Earth where the god known as Elohim rules. It turns out that it was an act of war by Evol (voice of Satoshi Tsuruoka), the military leader of the Centaurus Beta, and the nefarious alien Dahar (Ayumu Murase). Michael (voice of Hiroki Takahashi) and his twin brother, Lucifer (voice of Jun Kasama), join Yaizael, among others, to defend against Evol's army who seek to destroy planet Earth.

      The screenplay by Sayaka Okawa combines sci-fi elements with some action, intrigue and thought-provoking messages such as tolerance. There's just the right amount of exposition for the audience to be able to follow the plot and understand who's who without being confused. Although the plot is pretty simple, it doesn't become shallow or tedious. At times, some of the dialogue does veer toward preachines, but that's forgivable because it's full of wisdom and truth. This is the kind of movie that has both Truth and Spectacle, unlike the live-action Dune which has too much Spectacle and feels anticlimactic. The Laws of the Universe: The Age of Elohim, on the other hand, is far from anticlimactic. It rewards the audience with rousing action scenes while providing them with messages about Earth to ponder about. Even though the story takes place 150 million years ago, what it has to say about positive virtues, especially regarding combat, are timeless, profoundly human and therefore easy to connect to on an emotional and intellectual level.  

      Aesthetically, the animation looks dazzling and spectacular with many breathtaking sights. Hand-drawn animation almost always looks and feels warmer than CGI which is the case with The Laws of the Universe: The Age of Elohim. Fortunately, the action scenes aren't excessive, so they don't become exhausting. It's also worth mentioning the use of music and, particularly, a few musical numbers which help to invigorate the film. Director Isamu Imakake moves the film at just the right pace without any scenes that overstay their welcome. He and screenwriter Sayaka Okawa grasp the importance of not only providing the audience with a feast for their eyes and ears, but also for their heart, mind and soul. In other words, they know how to treat the audience like human beings which makes them kindred spirits with Hayao Miyazaki. At a running time of 2 hours, The Laws of the Universe: The Age of Elohim is exhilarating, profound and rousing with just the right balance of Truth and Spectacle. It's the perfect antidote to Denis Villeneuve's overlong, dull and anti-climactic Dune.

      Barney (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer), a shy middle school student, gets bullied at school where all of his classmates have their own personal robot called a B-Bot which he desperately wants, but his father, Dad (voice Ed Helms), isn't a big fan of those inventions. He ends up buying him a cheap one that fell off a truck after noticing that no one came to his birthday party. The B-Bot, which Barney names Ron, often malfunctions, though, but still learns new things like how to become Barney's friend and defend him against his school bullies.

      The screenplay by Peter Baynham and writer/director Sarah Smith tries to be thrilling, funny and heartfelt while tackling important issues like bullying, but the beats don't quite land. Some of the attempts at humor are either silly or uninspired. The villain, Andrew (voice of Rob Delaney), a co-founder of Bubble, the company that makes B-Bots, comes across more as a caricature than anything else. He makes for a pretty boring villain. Even the villains in other animated films had a backstory that humanized them. The filmmakers don't seem really interested in accomplishing humanization. They take a rather black-and-white approach to bullying with a solution to fight back against the bully in retaliation which sends the wrong message. Both Barney and Ron are outsiders in a way, so it's expected that they bond, but that friendship never really feels palpable nor does the film really delve into the meaning of friendship for that matter.

      What is Ron's Gone Wrong trying to say about technology? At times it seems damaging and harmful psychologically and emotionally, but then the ending, which won't be spoiled here, contradicts that and cops-out. The third act takes a nosedive because of that contradiction and how rushed it feels. Do the filmmakers want to leave it up to the audience to decide what to feel about technology? Either way, the film is cowardly for not having the guts to comment on technologic in a more perceptive and biting way like the far superior Wall-E does. Even The Boss Baby: Family Business has more to say about technology while doing a better job at entertaining the audience with its zaniness. Perhaps Ron's Gone Wrong could've used more zaniness or at least something to make it more invigorating.

      On a positive note, the CGI animation looks great with some objects that even look photorealistic. Clearly, a lot of attention was paid to the animation. The pacing is brisk enough without any scenes that drag. If only the same attention could've been paid to the screenplay, Ron's Gone Wrong could've been fun, clever and thrilling. At a running time of 1 hour and 47 minutes, Ron's Gone Wrong is a mildly engaging, but ultimately underwhelming animated film low on insight, thrills and humor with contradicting messages about technology.