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Critics Consensus: Warm, whimsical, and poignant, the immaculately framed and beautifully acted Moonrise Kingdom presents writer/director Wes Anderson at his idiosyncratic best.
Critic Consensus: Warm, whimsical, and poignant, the immaculately framed and beautifully acted Moonrise Kingdom presents writer/director Wes Anderson at his idiosyncratic best.
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All Critics (242) | Top Critics (49) | Fresh (225) | Rotten (17) | DVD (3)
The film is frequently funny, always elegant (or mock-elegant), and something that would make Humbert Humbert laugh all the way to his asylum.
Most of Wes Anderson's previous pictures came from the head; Moonrise Kingdom is one from the heart.
Anderson never loses his core themes - young love, the need to escape, the bind and bluster of family. His "Kingdom" may not be large, but it is perfectly appointed.
Phonies may complain that Anderson's island of misfit toys is a retreat from the real world, but for pure-hearted adventurers who share the secret map, "Moonrise Kingdom" is a joy that cannot be eclipsed.
Though undeniably smart and charming, "Moonrise Kingdom" loves itself the way the callow Holden Caulfield loves himself: unconditionally. Salinger understood the problem with that. Anderson may not.
"Moonrise Kingdom" takes place in a world where everything seems pleasantly faded, where people read crackly-covered library books rather than e-books, and where young people are allowed to be genuinely innocent.
Moonrise Kingdom is so charming, so quaintly and perfectly designed, like a pretty diorama in which Wes Anderson carefully places his actor-dolls, that it feels curmudgeonly to dislike it.
Bruce Willis, of all people, wrings the most emotion out of this theatrical straitjacket.
"Moonrise Kingdom" continues Anderson's winning streak.
Eccentric and sweet and director/writer Wes Anderson's best live-action contribution since The Royal Tenenbaums.
Anderson's movie is a musical, composed work about how all of the instruments play together; what it achieves is a rare harmony of form, tone, and subject.
The movie is neither stupid nor offensive, which puts it ahead of a lot of pictures. But I was still perplexed. And, let's face it, disappointed.
Charming and whimsical, herein is a call to separate from the lousy group that treats you badly, and to lovingly embrace yourself. If someone else wants to embrace you: that's even better. Wes Anderson on steroids.
Super Reviewer
I guess that Wes Anderson was probably bored with his toys when he decided to make this movie, out of a lack of anything better to do, for he clearly has nothing to say here and throws everything he can think of (including a great cast) in this pointless, unfunny mess that leads nowhere.
After a second viewing: I think I was too ready to love this movie. Great cast, great style, and sweet story of young love, but there's also a "same old Wes Anderson" feeling to it; it's almost belaboured. Despite Bill Murray and Frances McDormand, you rarely laugh out loud, and it's almost played too straight: trying to be too sweet. Anderson makes unique films, and I do like them all, but he may be getting stale. He hasn't blown me away since The Royal Tenenbaums. I have great expectations for The Grand Budapest Hotel, and in a way, I think he needs to knock that one out of the park in order to keep making the kinds of movies he wants to make. I'm starting to see a Tim Burton career parallel, in which he ends up only getting work from Disney. It wouldn't be the worst think in the world, but it would lead to compromises in his films' most valuable aspect: their aesthetic.
Probably my favorite film of the year (and what a good movie year it was!). Director Wes Anderson crafts a film that has a heart as big as its brain, creating a sweet story of adolescent love. It's Anderson's most delightfully quirky, toning down his usual sardonic but keeping the essence of an "Anderson" film. His shots seem compulsively symmetrical, the production design a matter of balance that feels quaint instead of off-putting. I want more tales of Suzy and Sam, but know I shouldn't get any- and that's the mark of a timeless film.
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