Review: Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" (2012)

Easily Wes Anderson's best and 2012's best so far. Anderson couldn't have gathered a better group of actors for this project. Every look of every face at every moment was perfect. "Moonrise Kingdom" elevated the name of Wes Anderson from quirky, off the wall humor which has attracted a large cult following but not yet appealed to a mass audience. "Moonrise Kingdom" might be the ticket that gets him over the hump and into the living rooms of a far larger audience. The film successfully transgressed the hearts of children and adults, something rare outside of Pixar.

The film is constantly clever, frequently hysterical, and once it was over it was absolutely one of the best films I had ever seen. The chemistry between the actors, specifically Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) were fantastic. Of Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and Frances McDormand, only one name is used to doing the type of film "Moonrise Kingdom" is. Bill Murray seems to only be looking out for films like this, and especially Wes Anderson films. It was a nice surprise to see Bruce Willis and Ed Norton in this project defying their normal type cast characters.

The adventure of this film was unique, special to watch. As Sam and Suzy venture out into the wild, you are walking beside them. So many critics of Wes Anderson claim his characters aren't grounded within reality but I beg to differ. All Wes Anderson does is play out the real fantasies of even adults in beautifully pictured films while using childish or silliness means to communicate his ideas. The imagination of Wes Anderson is short of Terry Gilliam while remaining in reality.

The love story in "Moonrise Kingdom" is between children but can't immediately think of a film with a significantly superior love story. The film attaches you to any sense of nostalgic childhood love while having nostalgic childhood adventures. Nostalgic, that is what "Moonrise Kingdom" was for me. Absolutely a must-see for 2012, the best film of the year outside of an awaiting December.

"Moonrise Kingdom"
9 / 10