Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 43 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 392 Ratings

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 43
  3. Negative: 1 out of 43
  1. Reviewed by: Mike Scott
    Jun 22, 2012
    100
    A thoroughly endearing journey, and one of the most enjoyable and touching movies to land in theaters so far this year.
  2. Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    Jun 21, 2012
    100
    The film is precious and adorable, but it isn't naïve, and the movie breathes so deep that Anderson even gets a real performance out of Willis (this is his best work in years).
  3. Reviewed by: Anthony Lane
    Jun 4, 2012
    80
    Anderson's great gift is to catch the generations as they intersect. [4 & 11 June 2012, p 132]
  4. Reviewed by: Rex Reed
    May 24, 2012
    25
    The result, in the case of Moonrise Kingdom, is what I call transcendentally brainless - an after school special aimed at asinine adolescents over the age of 40.

See all 43 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 114
  2. Negative: 15 out of 114
  1. Quirky, well acted, and amusing. Wes Anderson's films are not for the masses, as they are subtle and, quite frankly, more intelligent than the fodder we are fed by corporate Hollywood. I imagine his movies don't cost that much to make, that the actors all work for much less because they like him, and that because of these financial assets, make enough money to let him make the next one. I have liked them all to one extent or another. That's how it is with his films. If you don't like the quirky pathos infused humor, you just won't like his movies. He has his own voice and clearly his own aesthetic vision. I loved it. Expand
  2. 8
    Very cute movie. Definitely different! Thought acting was great and the story was quite funny. Can never understand why it is so important for the film industry to blaspheme the Name of God, but the do several times in this movie. Expand
  3. Moonrise Kingdom is a peculiar and beautiful movie, treats the story of a boy and a girl who met on a school play and fall in love, so they start to sending letters to each other and one day plan to escape together, in order to have a new life, far away from the adult world, which they both hate. It is interesting the dynamic that is generated between these two characters, because they both give to the other what their family does not provide; he compensates the understanding and support that needs the girl, and she pay off with attention and love. This story is so charming and magic because is the one that everyone wanted to have during their first love, although is not a complete happy ending; it has the precise end to make the story believable. Another exciting topic of the picture is the contrast and comparison between the child and the adult world. We see that the children do whatever they want and live guided by their imagination; however the adults do want they have to do and live guided by social conventions. Then we notice that the roles are change, the grown-ups cannot have a relationship or manage the children, but the boys have relationships and do not care of what the adults say. All of this happens because the story develops in the moonrise kingdom, a mixture between dreamland and neverland (the idea that the island where they live is fictional, also contributes to this concept). The performance of the protagonist couple is just brilliant. Expand
  4. 2
    The premise seemed very interesting, an orphan loner escapes from scout camp to elope with a young girl. The authority figures (police, scout masters) search the island trying to find them, with the help of the girls parents and the rest of the scouts. It sounds like a classic coming of age story between two socially inept outcasts, were it conjures the isolation of adolescence and the awkwardness of youth as it enters into sexual maturity. But the film wasn't really about the story at all and this is were it fell massively short. Moonrise kingdom is basically about how many visually symmetrical shots Wes Anderson can put onto a screen within 1 hour and 30 minutes. The colour scheme is typical Wes Anderson, vibrant red, greens, yellows and blue's, little bobble hats on most of the characters. The man has a 5 minute sequence at the start of dolly shots going up and down a house. Then followed by a dolly shot that travels left to right tediously for about three minutes with Edward Norton as he wakes up and goes outside for breakfast. He repeats this shot about 3-4 times during the film for similar lengths of time. When a letter appears on screen it's shot from birds eye view from above, when the main character reads a map it's shot from a birds eye view from above....everything is perfectly symmetrical. When they go to open a tent it's shot dead centre, then it's shot inside perfect symmetry as you see the zip being opened Expand

See all 114 User Reviews

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