Me in minority here

Rating: 7/10 (26 July 2012)

This movie is excellent and quirky, etc., but it left me completely unmoved. This puzzled me because I loved earlier Anderson films like "Rushmore," "The Royal Tennenbaums," and "The Fantastic Mr. Fox." "Moonrise Kingdom," tells the story of two uber-quirky tweens who both consider themselves outcasts and who arrange to run away together to an isolated part of the New England island they live on. The adults soon figure out that they've taken off, and assemble practically the rest of the island's inhabitants to track them down. The adult cast includes Anderson reliable Bill Murray, who mostly wanders around in hideous plaid pants, Jason Schwartzman, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton and Bruce Willis, as the island's sheriff. The tweens insist that they've found true love, the adults believe that separating them is best, - you'll probably be able to figure out the rest of the story on your own. On the way there, a dog runs afoul of a bow and arrow, another child gets stabbed by scissors, another kid gets struck by lightning, but none of these potential tragedies get more than a few moments of script time, and everyone winds up basically a little more wise and a little more content than they were before.
The movie is beautifully shot, it will make you want to run away to a NE island of your own. I found it weak on character development - the kids don't really go through the expected cycle that usually happens when two young people develop a relationship. That part felt rushed and discarded in favor of putting as many quirky characters in various situations as possible. Most of the movie did feel whimsical, but if you ask me, magic was in short supply.