MOONRISE KINGDOM Review
By Darin Skaggs
There is a point in everyone’s life during
their teen years when they realize they have to grow up and there are some
younger children that it just happened naturally for them. Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom is a film about both of
these types of people.
The movie focuses on two children, Sam, a
young orphan boy and Suzy, a violent young girl with parents who don’t know
what to do with her. They go on a
journey that ends up becoming one of the most beautiful love stories I’ve ever
seen and an amazing addition to Wes Anderson’s discovery.
In the “film nerd” community, Wes Anderson
is either highly loved or completely hated for his quirkiness in his films. I am one of the people that have loved almost
everything he has done. Moonrise Kingdom is one of Anderson’s
best. It is probably in the top three of
his films for me; the two others being The
Royal Tenembuams and his previous
film Fantastic Mr. Fox which is a Claymation
film. Moonrise Kingdom is a live action film but some shots seemed that they
could have been inspired by what he learned from making Fantastic Mr. Fox. This
style suits me just right and it makes me excited for what is to come next for Anderson.
This film, much like all other of
Anderson’s work is really funny. Most of
the jokes come from his quirkiness and surrealism of this reality. At one point
in the film you see a tree house on the top of a very tall, slim tree but somehow
it stays up. Other jokes come from the
script and like always with his films, the acting.
The preview for this film said that the film’s
stars great actors such as Anderson vet Bill Murray and new comers Bruce
Willis, Francis Macdormand and Edward Norton. These are all great actors and
they give great performances, but they are secondary to the main characters,
the children in this film. The children
in the story are both neglected by their peers. Such as the girl’s parents who don’t
pay that much attention to her as well as the boy’s foster parents. Along with that, Sam’s Boy Scout troop who do
not like him and pick on him. So after
meeting at a church play and becoming pen pals they make a plan to run away and
live with each other.
They go off and start to form a connection
that has been evolving since the moment they met. Their time together only last a few days but
they go through an entire romantic relationship. This is the way the young group grows up naturally. They encourage each other, Sam provides for
her by hunting and like anyone in love they become best friends. In a way they have an adult relationship,
while still being kids in the process. The
other kind of person I mentioned was the ones that realize that growing up is a
need. The adults in the film fit this
bill. When they realize the children are
missing they are screaming and throwing a tantrum, some characters are in
constant worry.
In this film the roles are almost reversed,
the kids act like adults and the adults like kids. Anderson handles this aspect of the film very
well. He has the roles switched, but
still having the roles they are supposed have.
Bill Murray’s character at one point is so upset about his missing
daughter that he announces he is going to cut down a tree with an axe and a
bottle of alcohol in his hand. This is a
funny line but I also see it as a calm temper tantrum. At the same moment his boys are listening to classical
music, as they do throughout the film, and they are the only ones appreciating
the music like mature music critics would.
Anderson’s film is hilarious and might be
his most touching. It is one of the greatest films of the year so far and
probably will stay on my greatest of the year list. I love this film and am very excited to see
what Wes Anderson has next. You know, three years from now.
No comments:
Post a Comment