Instant Favorite

Rating: 10/10 (4 November 2013)

I may be a HUGE Wes Anderson fan, but even if I wasn't, I'd still love this film. It's simply incredible. It's one of my favorite love stories of all time (right next to "Harold & Maude", & "But I'm A Cheerleader" to name a few). It's definitely made it into my top favorites in general of all time for sure, too.
I went into this without any preconceptions or any idea what it was about, as I feel it's the best way to see a film & also to look at it subjectively, I'm able to enjoy films WAY more & get pleasantly surprised by them, & I'm hardly ever let down, especially due to things like trailers or hype by others. I can sincerely say I was absolutely pleasantly surprised, entertained, emotionally involved & just all around in love with it. I was severely disappointed with Darjeeling Limited, as it went absolutely nowhere & even though there were a few minor semi-funny parts, it was mostly just boring. That's not because I didn't get it though, it just wasn't interesting. This was a very redeeming film for me in every way & I think using a very different cast this time proved interesting & fun as well.
The cast is phenomenal, especially the two main stars, who I'd say are some of the best child actors I've seen since maybe the little girl in "The Fall" or Natalie Portman in "The Professional". It was nice to see him use different actors than his normal bunch, though of course (not surprisingly) Bill Murray & (thankfully) Jason Shwartzman had small parts. Edward Norton & Bruce Willis did an absolutely fantastic job & I highly enjoyed seeing them in this. They were also very different roles for them to play, it seems, especially Bruce Willis. Was happily surprised at the star playing a troop leader near the end (don't want to ruin it for you).
This movie has everything good in it, from the awesome music, to the fun, dramatic, interesting story, to the romance, to the fantasy, to the acting & cinematography, to the colors & all around style, the humor, wit & intelligence...and so on. I'd recommend this to anyone. It shouldn't fail to keep one entertained (unless they're an emotionless idiot maybe, then they should stick to their boring, talentless, big budget action flicks with "pretty" faces etc) & the whimsy of it all is worth every moment. You won't be able to predict what's going to happen most of the time, which makes every moment a fun & surprising one. Why this doesn't have at least 9 stars here is beyond me, except it's probably due to the lack of interest people have these days for anything witty, intelligent or actually interesting & full of talent & hard work. I give it a 10, I really do. The only thing that sucked or disappointed me was that it had to end. :(
Watch it, especially if you're in the mood for an original, sweet, fun love story full of awesomeness & adventure!!