a wonderful caper brimming with pleasant marvel

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2018)

This is simply another marvelously crafted piece, specifically the 8th, by auteur Wes Anderson, whose artistic flavor and ability manifest in its meticulously arranged camerawork and grandiose sets, the rich nature of the soundtrack, and the gliding pace, given even more vitality by the performances of a straight-up stupendous cast. The combined presentation is phenomenal, I'll argue.
From the opening shot, all attention is placed on the scenery, a motley of color and positively baroque environments. From the floridity of the Grand Budapest Hotel to the brutalist nature of the prison, there's intense mise en scène all around; Wes Anderson did incrediblely well to build a world, boxy yet vast. All of this is well-framed under the lucid camerawork, a sort of hovering betta delicately absorbing both the most penitent scenes and most beautiful scenery at once as it follows the cast throughout, as they indulge in their eccentricity and plots, to the tune of the balalaika-heavy soundtrack, which can range from bubblingly mellow to bubblingly anxious. The acting is mostly underplayed but by no means diluted; the humor and general dialogue is executed in a natural yet purposeful cadence, coupled with fluid motion. I've had a couple of chortles watching, and was heavily invested throughout. I honestly can't recommend this enough.
Now, issues some might have: The plot acts only as a vehicle for all other facets of the film itself, and by extension the characters may come across as superficial. I honestly don't view this as a defect; I figured the intention was to impress the audience with an absurd caper and enjoyed it greatly under that assumption. All the same, because of this, the film is sorta hit-or-miss, depending on what you're looking for or to resonate with. I suppose most of all Wes Anderson films are.
Still, I recommend giving this a watch, if only to appreciate the style that penetrates this film immensely.