Wes Anderson is hands down one of my favorite filmmakers.
His style of comedy, the way he handles his subject matter, and how unique his
films are is always refreshing. This doesn’t mean, however, that all of his
films are good. The Darjeeling Limited
is an example of how Anderson sometimes misses the marks. I would also add The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou but
that film is actually quite good and just misunderstood when it first came out.
The reason the film wasn’t widely received is because compared to its
predecessor, The Royal Tennenbaums, The Life Aquatic didn’t really have the
same vibe. This might be due to the
fact this was the first film Anderson wrote without his writing partner, Owen
Wilson.
So after the failure of The Darjeeling Limited, Anderson came out with the incredible Moonrise Kingdom and officially redeemed himself. Moonrise Kingdom is a sweet story of an unusual and misunderstood boy who runs away from his boy scout camp because he feels he just doesn't fit in. He then later meets up with a girl he met earlier in the year at a Christmas pageant. I think Chistopher Orr of The Atlantic put it best when he wrote Moonrise Kingdom "captures the texture of childhood summers, the sense of having a limited amount of time in which to do unlimited things". Anderson always focuses on family dynamics but in Moonrise Kingdom (2012) he seems to focus more on how fleeting childhood can be and how fast kids try to grow up.
Moonrise Kingdom boasts an impressive cast of accomplished actors, such as Tilda Swinton, Francis McDormand, Edward Norton, and Bruce Willis. The strange thing about Moonrise Kingdom is that Anderson only uses two of his regulars, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. Regardless, the cast is incredible and this is one of Bruce Willis' best performances. He is sympathetic, funny, understated, and extremely relatable. It was an incredibly refreshing role to see Willis in. Edward Norton is just fantastic as well as the Boy Scout's leader and really shows the different roles he can play. Francis McDormand and Bill Murray just shine in their roles as a disconnected married couple. Jared Gilman as Sam, the boy who runs away, and Kara Hayward as Suzy, the girl who meets Sam, rise to the roles of unhappy adolescents trying to convince the adults around them they are not crazy or bad kids, they are just trying to find themselves.
Wes Anderson in undoubtedly the King of Mise-en-Scene because this entire film is steeped in meticulous shot composition and saturated in red and yellow, enhancing and strengthening the tone and ambiance of a Wes Anderson film. There is always so much attention to detail in Anderson films that he really creates a story within his own world instead of creating a story in the world the viewer is used to. It's almost as if he creates universes similar but quite exactly our own.
Moonrise Kingdom is quirky and fun but also very serious but the seriousness never feels odd or out of place when the mood switches. Anderson is a true master at balancing drama and comedy. The film is an excellent coming-of-age tale but is also more than that. The story has many facets and is relatable to everyone and everyone. I enjoyed this film so much, as I usually do with Wes Anderson's films, that I have to give it a nine out of ten. I highly recommend this film and any other Anderson film for that matter.
Thank you for reading and being patient while I catch up. Come back soon for a review on Now You See Me.
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