95% Moonrise Kingdom

All Critics (120) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (114) | Rotten (6) | DVD (1)

Anderson's best feature since Rushmore, in part because, like that film, it takes as its primary subject matter odd, precocious children, rather than the damaged and dissatisfied adults they will one day become.

There's no denying the extravagant pleasures "Moonrise Kingdom" affords as an erudite wish-fulfillment fantasy of empowerment and autonomy.

If it's not as deft as his most adorable confections ("The Royal Tenenbaums," "The Fantastic Mr. Fox"), it's still got plenty to chew on and chuckle over for initiates in the Cult of Wes.

Last time out, in Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson adapted a children's book by Roald Dahl. Now, in Moonrise Kingdom, he's made one of his own.

It's an adventure, a love story, a biblical allegory complete with approaching storm, a mash note to composer Benjamin Britten and a profoundly touching discourse on the needs of troubled children.

"Moonrise Kingdom" is Anderson's seventh movie, and it's the first since "Rushmore" that works from the opening shot to the final image.

This is a Wes Anderson film. It's gonna be quaint. It's gonna be wry. It's gonna look just like Anderson's other features. But is that such a bad thing?

A marvelously funny, wry script

Despite the star power on display here, the movie is not for everyone

Wes Anderson's best work in a decade, as he returns to the nimble territory precariously balanced between fairy-tale whimsy and genuine emotion

Moonrise Kingdom might be Wes Anderson's purest work yet -- a tender tale of longing and melancholy as seen through the eyes of a handful of people on an isolated (fictional) island off the coast of New England.

Anderson's most involving and sardonically funny movie since Rushmore (and maybe better).

Another great film from Anderson, and the beginning of a fantastic career for Hayward.

The adventurous circumstances and sensations of young love permeate Moonrise Kingdom.

It's the filmmaker's best piece of live-action cinematic art since 'Rushmore' and nicely joins 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' in his return to fine form. (Full Content Review for Parents also available)

Moonrise Kingdom feels like a culmination, like Anderson has been working towards this one movie.

Wes Anderson films are not so much directed as curated.

Funny and heartfelt in equal measure, "Moonrise Kingdom" is a top-to-bottom charmer and one of the most heartfelt peans to the power of young love that you will see anytime soon.

Has individual moments that are alluring to the eyes, but like the aforementioned dollhouse where Suzy lives, take a closer look inside and it becomes obvious how artificial all the parts are.

Who else can capture with such chilling accuracy that fragile period between childhood and disillusionment, the time when the novelty of true love overwhelms the heart with its immensity and futility?

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