Moonrise Kingdom (PG-13)
"The Magic Kingdom"
Wes Anderson's quirky little films haven't come a long
way, and thank goodness for that. If you haven't enjoyed his previous
entries (Rushmore, Royal Tennebaums), then perhaps this isn't for you,
but if you have then Moonrise is a joyful nostalgic about being a child
in the 1960s, told around a love story between two kids who feel
socially outcast. Call it Sid & Nancy
Jr.
or Romeo and Juliet for the younger set, except instead of all that
angsty tragedy there is a large helping of whimsy with the blood and
violence and sex all being real but fun-sized. Anderson's motifs this
time around are more focused on younger childhood pursuits; Scouting,
Preteen Fantasy Novels, Parental Divorce, playing Parcheesi and portable
record players on a rainy day. We are led through the story by a
Historical Narrator who is more likely to tell us the barometric
pressure at any given moment than the characters motives and indeed it
is the adults here who really shine. I can't remember the last time I
enjoyed Bruce Willis this much, he plays a slightly sad small town
Police chief with a quiet reserve that is remarkable. Ed Norton's
prissy woodsman Scout Master frets and whimpers orders and Tilda Swinton
nearly rides in on a broom as Social Services, here to take our hero
Sam away to an Orphanage (or worse). Suzy is Sam's new girlfriend, and
together they run off into the woods in the name of love while his
scout mates and her parents (played wonderfully by Bill Murray and the
its-so-great-to-see-her-again Frances Mcdormand) search hi and low on
the island for the wayward youths. Kids will be kids though (mercurial
and their tempers quick), Adults will be adults (depressed and trying to
keep it all under control), so a great many adventures are had in a
1960s that never actually existed, except through the rose tinted
glasses of our memories.
The melange of loving nostalgia,
outdated gadgets and eccentric childhood attitudes that Wes Anderson has
always been obsessed with are used to their greatest effect here, the
mix feels genuine and true and the visuals like some beautiful old Bob
Ross paintings come to life. It is a period piece of youthful
imagination, told as only Wes can; a campfire story lovingly embellished
by an adoring parent around a summer campfire, the embers slowly dying
and the crickets beginning to sing as you lay in your sleeping bag
wondering about what it'd be like to live on the moon.
It's simply one of his best films, and the best I've seen this year.
9.5 Campfire Hot Dogs out of 10 (OUTSTANDING)
The melange of loving nostalgia, outdated gadgets and eccentric childhood attitudes that Wes Anderson has always been obsessed with are used to their greatest effect here, the mix feels genuine and true and the visuals like some beautiful old Bob Ross paintings come to life. It is a period piece of youthful imagination, told as only Wes can; a campfire story lovingly embellished by an adoring parent around a summer campfire, the embers slowly dying and the crickets beginning to sing as you lay in your sleeping bag wondering about what it'd be like to live on the moon.
It's simply one of his best films, and the best I've seen this year.
9.5 Campfire Hot Dogs out of 10 (OUTSTANDING)
