Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Revisiting Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Hello, Bloggers! Back in 2013, when this blog first started, I wrote a rather scathing review of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom. But ever since then, I've grown accustomed to Anderson's work by watching The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Both of those I loved. So I went and rewatched Moonrise Kingdom a couple times and I grew to like it much more.


In my original review, I said that there wasn't anything to like about it. But now, I have found plenty to appreciate about it. First off, I loved the cinematography. I thought it was absolutely beautiful and to me, the tinted yellow color represents the optimism of young love while contrasting with some of the darker events that occur.

Another thing I liked was how even though the film has a typical quirky Anderson-y feel with its set and costume designs and such, it still feels grounded in reality. Much like The Royal Tenenbaums, the characters in this feel like people you might already know: You have the boy, Sam, who is an orphan, the girl, Suzy, who feels like an outsider despite coming from a well-off family, the girl's overbearing parents, the lonely cop Sharp, and the sensitive yet neurotic scout master Ward. Now that I think about it, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola's screenplay manages to delve into the humanistic themes of young love and loneliness, which all the characters deal with. Plus, the actors all do an outstanding job bringing their characters to life. At first, I thought that the talent in this film was wasted. But now, not so much.

When I first saw this film, I didn't really get Wes Anderson's style nor did I see his previous work. So as I said before, I had to watch some of his other work to appreciate this more. But if you haven't seen any of his other films and plan to watch this, I would suggest watching The Royal Tenenbaums first so that you can a clear idea of what Anderson's vision is like.

After subsequent viewings of Moonrise Kingdom, I now give it a B+ and say that it is a colorful yet poignant take on young love and the loneliness felt by both kids and adults. I may need some more viewings to appreciate it even more, but what matters is I now have a great respect for Wes Anderson's vision. Thanks for reading!

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