For many, director Wes Anderson is an acquired taste. He is a very polarizing force in the movie industry. Let's face it, either you like his movies or you don't. And the first fifteen minutes of "Moonrise Kingdom" is thick with every nuance that you love or hate.
But after that, when our two young protagonists meet in the meadow, Anderson dials it down and lets the story breathe a little. There's nothing too new of Wes Anderson and the subject matter of dysfunctional families, but young Sam and Suzy are lot easier to relate to than some of the eccentrics populating Anderson's earlier films.
The cast include Anderson regular Bill Murray along with Bruce Willis and Edward Norton with cameos from Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman. But all of the praise should rightly be placed on newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward for being perfect in their roles.
While the movie may be one of the director's more understated movies, style wise, it is still filled with his famous detail-oriented, retro-pastiche that makes his movies so distinct. From the maps of the fictitious island to the excerpts from library books that don't exist, it is easy to say that Anderson has not lost his touch.
"Moonrise Kingdom" is one of Wes Anderson's easily accessible movies, and with its time-tested story of runaway lovers, there's no question why it's garnered such good reviews.
