Wes Anderson's Kingdom

Now that I've seen Moonrise Kingdom I can read about it willy-nilly and not worry about spoiling anything for myself. For example, this review from Khoi Vinh makes some excellent points. Particularly this:

Anderson populates his movies with big name actors eager to burnish their indie cred, and he surrounds them with the accoutrements of his obsessions: obsolete technology, dubious uniforms, imaginary cartographies, naive architecture, and more. Every single piece counts, and is placed exquisitely in relation to every other. Most filmmakers compose their frames, but it might be more accurate to say that Anderson lays his out, much the way print designers once pasted up pages in lavishly illustrated encyclopedia volumes. It’s not film direction, it’s art direction.

My most succinct review of the film would be that it looks like a Wes Anderson play. It's a big, open, expansive world he's created but it still feels very small and curated.

I disagree with some other elements of the review but it's silly to argue with someone's opinion. No one is right or wrong when it comes to such a subjective thing. I felt like the characters in Moonrise Kingdom had every bit of depth that the world presented to the viewer should have them expect. All of Anderson's films deal with fatherhood, youth and familial acceptance in some way, this one just happens to present it through the tale of a pre-teen finding his way - complete with the same innocence, bewilderment and seemingly shallow inventories that come with that age.

To put it another way... I quite enjoyed it. HT Hawkt.