Absolutely Fantastic

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Moonrise Kingdom has the spirit of a free child, dreaming of running away from all the bad things in their lives, and looking to connect with his/her childhood sweetheart. And you really feel like you are this child. The film has the power to transport you to your early ages, where dreams were more common, more romanticized and captured your deeper desires without all the strains that come with adulthood. But funny enough, this is a film for adults, with no appeal to children, I suppose. The nostalgia feeling is a trademark from writer director Wes Anderson, and although some may say that his style overshadows the meaningfulness of his stories, this does not happen in this film. There is enough realism for us to connect as adults, and enough romanticism and surrealism to create unique feelings of childhood romance, and desires for escapism. It has an even bigger appeal to introverts, who will more easily connect with the main characters, who are tired of social constraints. The film has a world of itself, a tiny island where everyone knows evereyone, and a lifestyle dictated by traditionalism and a superficial kindness that makes every adult hurt on the inside. For me, this is the strongest message of the film. It is not just nostalgic and romantic for the sake of it, but it carries a deeper meaning that we all must be more true to ourselves, and kinder to the people that really matter to us. This desire is expressed by two children that had enough, and ended up teaching the adults a valuable lesson of letting love take control of their actions, and being more sensitive to the world around them, and mainly the people around them. It is indeed a very sensible film, that has very interesting artistic choices such as the depiction of the adults personalities, and the surrealism of extraordinary natural events (rain, fire, storm, thunder, explosions, etc). The romance of the two children is lovely to watch. It forces us to question all the prejudices and restriction we have regarding children romantic and sexual maturity in our culture. As it approaches these subjects, it does so with such honesty and tenderness that it might sensibilize adults to look at these constrains from another perspective, a more natural and naive perspective something that only children can offer.

That talent mostly being Wes Anderson who has crafted an authentic drama with some contemporary flavours. His direction is so quirky that it's hard not to fall in love with it. The centralisation of characters and objects with the camera, the still shots of the excellent production design, the side track panning as characters walk along and a nice 360 degree scene within a house. The stages built for those scenes just ooze design excellence and I have to admire the simplicity. We follow two 12 year olds who fall in love and plan to run away, but various authorities attempt to track them down. It's a basic plot but the animated characters and young performances help reinvigorate this exhausted genre. Our typical Anderson cast (Norton, Swinton, Keitel, Murray etc.) are all here again and give great performances. The awkward yet loving chemistry between our two young leads was moulded with care and tenderness that I found somewhat relatable. I'm sure back in our youth we all fell in love with a crush and wanted to run away from everyone...no? Just me then. Again, the production design was genius. I love how it purposefully look like it's built for a stage show as opposed to a cinematic piece, there is something so idiosyncratic about Anderson's choice of style that just makes it wonderful. Whilst all the above is all plain sailing, my major issue was with the narrative. I found myself somewhat disengaged until about halfway through. Right from the start, you are thrown in straight away with about 47 characters (completely accurate...) and a geography lesson of the island. Honestly I needed to get a notebook out. It was intimidating! Like an onslaught of quirkiness. It took so long for me to catch up and become invested that the short runtime of 94 minutes was nearly over. It's a shame, wish it was longer so that the plot development could take its time. However, it's a sweet film and Anderson's style is impeccable.

Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerFirst off, Wes Anderson knows how to make a weird and stylish film. This film is probably the most stylish film he has ever made. The film always looks like a picture book with vibrant colors and textures. It has the feeling of a fictional world meets a real world. The plot is whimsical and funny with hints of emotional moments. For me, the film was just too weird and overly stylish. The story was okay.The acting is all around good. Bruce Willis, Bob Balaban, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jared Gilman, Kaya Hayward, and Jason Schwartzman all perform well. Bill Murray takes the cake on this one because he is hilarious.The pacing for me was a little slow but the runtime is very short.Pros: Okay story, amazing colors and textures, good acting, Bill Murray is hilarious, and a short runtimeCons: Too stylish, very weird, slow pacing, and for me it was too whimsical Overall Rating: 7.0

I think i have lost one of my testicles Watching this