Indeed. Halfway through the movie, they mentioned a man-eating tiger. Ever seen From Dusk Till Dawn? It’s a movie that starts off like some sort of lowlife criminal flick, and transitions halfway through into a vampire horror movie. I desperately wanted Darjeeling Limited to experience a similar tone-shift, as the horrible brothers were picked off one by one by the carnivore.
It’s totally cool that you didn’t like this movie. I am not sure you know why (as douchey as that sounds.)
When you say it “was written in a way that didn’t create tension.” That is what I mean by “Hollywood tropes and cues to ellicit an emotional response.”
Generally movies are written in a way to get people to feel a certain way. Conflicts are used at certain points in a narrative to rachet up stress or just too create a “story.” Believe it or not, story telling tends to be very formulaic. x+x= sadness,
x-y= catharsis, x+y=joy, etc.
What i think Wes does is that he uses these devices but he kind of uses them ironically. Usually in his films there is some majorly contrived, conflict towards the end that shakes everyone to their senses.
Spoilers!
In Moonrise, it was that storm. In Steve Zissou it was the kidnapping. In Darjeeling, the kids death. In The Tenenbaums, the car accident. etc, etc. I think this probably takes people out of the story or turns people off.
Another criticism I can see is that characters can be one dimensional (to the point where alot of them wear uniforms!) The broadness makes people not “relate” to them.
The other thing is of course the overall artistic design. He has a very distinct visual aesthetic that people have a tough time with.
Another thing is the camera work. His camera work and frame composition (or whoever is the cinematographer) borrows heavily from 2 sources (Stanley Kubrick and The French New Wave.) You don’t see camera work in many films that use these more experimental styles. That can take people out of the film.
If you think those guys are bad, do yourself a favor and don’t watch any Kevin Smith movies…
Who was the pitiful man child in Moonrise Kngdom? I guess Bill Murray came close, but even he was a successful lawyer, though one trapped in a loveless dying marriage. Bruce Willis and Ed Norton’s characters displayed physical and moral courage. Can’t really think of anyone who fits the bill.
ETA: this was my favorite movie of 2012, though The Avengers came in a close second. I agree with tomcar that it had a fairly linear, straightforward plot.
All movies are mannered. The only thing distinguishing them is that they are mannered in different ways. You won’t realize this for many years until you go back to see one of today’s films and say to yourself, “Wow, this movie is so typically 2013. How did people watch this without realizing how weird the films then were?” This is why it’s a good idea to see movies which come from many different times, which were made in many different countries, and which display many different styles. It teaches you that your own tastes are not universal.
I like Wes Anderson movies in general, although for some reason I was a bit underwhelmed by Moonrise Kingdom. Maybe I’d just heard too much beforehand about how great it was, how it was Anderson’s best movie ever, how people who don’t even like Wes Anderson liked it, etc.
Tangent, but I also generally like Tim Burton but thought his Dark Shadows movie was pretty weak. Partway through I started thinking how much better it would have been if Wes Anderson had directed it. A dark comedy about regular 1970s folks interacting with vampires and witches might seem like material best suited to Burton, but this was also a movie about an extended family of eccentric white people living in a big old decaying house together. They have a live-in psychiatrist, a detail that seems almost like something from a parody of a Wes Anderson movie. With some recasting of the lead roles (e.g. swap Angelica Huston for Michelle Pfeiffer) it would have been a pretty typical Anderson movie, only with vampires, which sounds entertaining to me.
Hmmm…looking over my contributions, I’m realizing I’m perilously close to threadshitting, because while I’m talking with people in general about my problems with Wes Anderson movies (I’ve seen four of them), I haven’t seen Moonrise Kingdom. Several people told me that despite my strong dislike for Darjeeling Limited I’d love Fantastic Mr. Fox, and that movie filled me with such rage that I swore the director off forever. Several people have told me that despite my hatred of Fox, I’d enjoy Moonrise Kingdom, but I’m not willing to risk it.
It may be that the loathsome narcissists that star in and ruin his previous pictures don’t show up in this one, but I’ll never know :).
I’ve enjoyed all of Anderson’s movies with the exception of Darjeeling Limited. I thought Moonrise Kingdom was great. If you don’t like Wes Anderson movies then you probably shouldn’t watch Wes Anderson movies. 
Don’t let not having seen a movie get in the way of arguing it’s merits! 
But yeah, if Mr. Fox fills you with rage, I would cut back on the Wes Anderson viewing. I do think that Darjeeling and Moonrise are about as far from each other on the WA spectrum as movies can be.
In my defense, I’ve made no argument whatsoever about Moonrise Kingdom. I’ve only argued about Anderson in general. But since the thread is at least nominally about MK, I should step away from it.
Oddly enough, I agree, although I preferred *Darjeeling *over Moonrise. I’m a big Anderson fan, but the latter film left me cold.
For what it’s worth, I really really hated the lead character in Rushmore. I just couldn’t get into the movie, I hated him so much; that conniving, narcissistic petulant asshole. I didn’t like most of the Characters in The Royal Tennenbaums either, and skipped Darjeeling and Life Aquatic. I only went to Moonrise because it was boiling hot outside and my friend and I were looking for something to do. I’m glad I did.
They’re non-representational art. Compare Moonrise Kingdom to Chagall’s painting, Birthday. Neither one is meant to be a depiction of how real people act and interact. Rather, they flatten certain aspects of those interactions and exaggerate others out of proportion to highlight them. For Chagall, that was energy and surprise; for Anderson, in this as in most of his movies, it’s alienation from established order. You might also compare the adults in Moonrise Kingdom to those of Peanuts.
That reminds me, a new CGI-animated Peanuts movie has been greenlighted by the studios. Wes Anderson would be my first pick to helm this project (although, if this were the case, I would prefer to see him do a live-action versionl).
Thats an excellent point.
Like all abstraction in art, sometimes it brings people in closer and sometimes it pushes people away. You can look at Birthday and say “That is ridiculous and silly!” or “That is so romantic and bittersweet!” Same can be done with Moonrise.
I think people covered most of the points about Wes Anderson films:
Whimsical
Lack of traditional Hollywood tropes
Deadpan
Irony
Slightly absurd
One or more Wilson brother
Jason Schwarzman
Bill Murray
Majorly contrived event towards the end that shakes everyone to their senses (although I disagree with it being the kidnapping in Steve Zissou. I’d say it was the helicopter crash).
Bottle Rocket is probably my favorite movie ever. I don’t think I love any other movies by Wes Anderson.
I’ve heard that from a lot of sources (MK is the first Wes Anderson movie people like). I think the main reason tends to be what you highlighted - the main story revolves around kids. But not just kids, but kids from the 1960s. So all of the quirky anacronisms that arise in other Anderson films, which tend to annoy people, seem to ‘fit’. And the fact that its told in the past about kids gives it a slight fairy tale feel - hence, it can do strange things and exaggerate personalities and people are less interested in it feeling ‘realistic’.
And don’t forget Uniforms!
Yeah, you are probably right about Zissou. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it. For me, it is visually one of the most beautiful, creative WA movies, but the story itself is probably my least favorite.
The yellow jumpsuits in Bottle Rocket were one of my favorite things about that movie.
