Moonrise Kingdom Review

By Nicholas Gibson

Run away from home

in Wes Anderson’s new film.

I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of commercials laid about your favorite television channels for Wes Anderson’s new film Moonrise Kingdom. Sadly, those commercials don’t really tell you much about the film besides its all-star cast of Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Frances McDormand (not to mention Harvey Keitel for the Tarantino fans). So what is Moonrise Kingdom? To put it simple, Moonrise Kingdom is wonderful. “Of course it is” you may say with a star list like the above, but you’d be wrong there. The big names are hardly what make this film such a joy to watch. Actually, it is first time actor Jared Gilman (Sam) and actress Kara Hayward (Suzy) that really make this film so charming.

On a small island, off the coast of New England, live a boy and a girl who fall in love at first sight (well, first awkward conversation) with one another and decide to run away together, which prompt the children’s parents, local police, and even Boy Scout troop to give chase and bring them home. But it won’t be that easy. Sam is one of the best scouts in his troop and between Sam and Suzy there is an unbreakable bound of trust and sympathy that keeps them moving forward. Their sympathy for one another is brought on by their cruddy home lives. Suzy’s parents have practically given up on her and Sam is an orphan (and the adults didn’t even know). So being misunderstood they fall in love and run away.

Still there is more, much more in fact. Wes Anderson packs a lot of story and characters into this seemingly simple film. Captain Sharp’s (Bruce Willis) and Laura Bishop’s (Frances McDormand) love affair behind the back of a sad, pathetic Walt Bishop (Bill Murray) create a great parallel between our child heroes’ own love. Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) and his troop of colorful Boy Scouts are determined to save Sam and Suzy at the cost of a brutal/hilarious fight scene and even a deadly storm. Not to mention that all the character arcs seem to cross and overlap one another in a beautiful weave of story telling. Don’t let all the sappiness and eternal love fool you though. This film moves at a mile a minute from the quick, snappy lines of dialog and the constant “Wes Anderson Style” camera movements that tread across each location as if they were a stage.

The best way to describe Moonrise’s tone would be to call it a smash between Romeo and Juliet and a Mark Twain adventure that was made into a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Yeah, it’s that weird and entirely better for it. The only sad part is that the film is rated PG-13. It is a little edgy for some younger audiences and not “politically correct” at all times, but in a sense that is what makes it so funny and whimsical. I could really see kids loving this movie to death as well as their parents. Yes, I mean it. Take your kids to see this movie and skip out on the grueling stupidity of another Madagascar film. 

On top of the beautiful story and wonderful atmosphere this film is a constant riot of laughter. Every two seconds there was at the very least a chuckle in the audience from the quirky nature of the children and the ridiculous, absentminded behavior of their roles models and parents.

So what’s wrong with the movie? The cast is great, the tone, and the story. Is it not beautiful? No, the cinematography is gorgeous. There has to be a problem. Well, actually no. I’ve never been a huge Wes Anderson fan myself and I went into the film skeptical, but came out with absolutely no regrets. Even after the loved Marvel’s The Avengers I had some problems, but none here. I’d recommend Moonrise Kingdom to anyone. I really do hope more people go out to see this film as it seems like it is slipping a bit under the radar. You won’t be disappointed. In fact, you may discover a film you’ll be adding to your favorite films list very quickly. 5 blips out of 5. Oh and if that weren’t enough, someone gets struck by lightning.