Moonrise Kingdom Review

Virtually every shot of Cousin Ben made me LOL

So, it's been a while since I did a movie review, not since The Dark Knight Rises, which I will maintain is the best film I've seen this year. Then again, I have yet to see The Master, Looper, Lincoln, Argo, The Hobbit, Zero Dark Thirty, Killing Them Softly, Django Unchained, or many others, so I should probably reserve judgment for another few months.

Seriously, HOW IS YOUR EYE NOT DRAWN TO COUSIN BEN?

Anyway, the most recent film I've seen is one that's been out for a while, indie auteur Wes Anderson's latest, Moonrise Kingdom. I am not overly familiar with Wes Anderson's previous oeuvre, having only seen his high school dramedy, Rushmore, a film I liked and enjoyed, but did not consider to be as great as some hold it in esteem. I've read many opinions, though, expressing negative doubt toward Anderson, calling him an overrated hack who makes quirky movies for the sake of being quirky. All that taken in, I felt Moonrise Kingdom was a better movie than Rushmore, but again, got the deep feeling that I would not end up loving it as much as some have. I think it's a good, warm, heartfelt, and spectacularly directed feature, that ably tackles such themes as first love, community, and family (touching, I noticed, on many similar notes with the aforementioned Rushmore), but also does something more ambitious. Even though Moonrise Kingdom takes place in a New England island community in 1965, it is a film rooted in some fantastical elements. A kid gets struck by lightning, two kids manage to run away together and flabbergast an entire town for an extended period of time, and Bob Balaban walks around as the narrator in different frames telling the audience of the town, the time period, and other things, while also popping up as a character in the movie. In a mere 93 minutes, Anderson and co-writer Roman Coppola succeed in building a miniature world for these surprisingly realistic characters to inhabit (the two kids feel real, but the adults, maybe not), so when the craziness is cranked up, it still feels grounded. Anderson's direction is, as previously stated, first-rate, taking advantage of multiple technical tricks in order to create a seamless experience that also feels artistically satisfying. The ensemble cast is also excellent. Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, and Edward Norton give understated performances that draw out the complexities of their characters. Bruce Willis' Captain Sharp is a scruffy lawman revealed to be a surprisingly warmhearted man, Edward Norton's scout master genuinely cares about his leadership role in the young scouts' lives, and Bill Murray's Walt Bishop (Is that a Fringe reference? Because God, I hope it is) is a regretful old soul living in a failed marriage. Most of this is understated and merely revealed in service of the plot, but it works towards a more seamless experience. The rest of the cast is also awesome, with expectedly good turns from Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, briefly Harvey Keitel, the aforementioned Balaban, and once again, my favorite character in the movie, Jason Schwartzman as Cousin Ben. None of these characters really "popped" for me, especially in contrast to Rushmore's Max Fischer, but that's because Fischer and Bill Murray's Herman Blume were at the heart there, while the heart of this one is also split in two, between the adult ensemble, and the young lovers. The romance at the heart of the film especially works, as not only does it make the two kids seem more mature than the adults in many respects (helped by the very real performances of newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward), but it feels real, because Sam is an orphan, and Suzy is an unstable girl who feels trapped in her life with her parents in a loveless marriage. They are two eccentrics stuck on the outside of the worlds they live in, and are understandably drawn to each other. The adults simply think they are acting out and mentally ill, and miss the point of their escapades entirely. It's a realistic first love story dropped smack-dab in the middle of all the surrounding insanity, and it grounds the film, keeping one foot in reality while letting the other fly into fantasy.

COUSIN BEN IS KEEPING THE NICKELS

So, yeah, in general, Moonrise Kingdom is one of the best films I've seen so far this year. It packs more in 93 minutes than a summer blockbuster like Battleship did with 40 more, and New Penzance feels a hell of a lot more like a built world than say, Pandora in Avatar. The built world is even microcosm'd in the film itself. The title is Sam and Suzy's world together, their only personal "moonrise kingdom". I don't think it's quite the masterpiece that some say it is, but it is quite a good movie, and worth 90 minutes of virtually anyone's time.

Moonrise Kingdom gets an 8.5 out of 10.

What kind of bird are YOU?