Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Director: Rian Johnson
Screenwriter: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Jessica Henwick, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr

Rian Johnson’s Knives Out was quite the sensation when it premiered in 2019. It was a fresh take on the whodunnit, proving there’s life in the genre yet (since furthered with the releases of See How They Run and ‘Only Murders in the Building’). We dug our teeth into the ingenious mystery of the death of Novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) after his 85th birthday, and the film introduced us to a new sleuth in the shape of Daniel Craig’s southern musical-loving Benoit Blanc, with the then-Bond playing wonderfully against type. Boasting an all-star cast, Knives Out was such a kaleidoscopic success that many may have been dubious regarding the chances of successful sequels, especially given the $400million cost to Netflix. Thanks to even more laughs than before, we needn’t have worried.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery sees Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) travelling to the private island of an eccentric millionaire in the middle of the Mediterranean. As with the first film, the cast is both eclectic and star-studded; here we have Dave Bautista as a youtuber, Kate Hudson as a supermodel and fashion designer, and Leslie Odom Jr as a genius scientist. Also along for the ride are Kathryn Hahn’s Claire Debella, the Governor of Connecticut, and Janelle Monáe as Cassandra “Andi” Brand, a tech entrepreneur. Rounding out the main cast is Edward Norton as Miles Bron, whose island much of the action takes place on. In addition, there are a wealth of exciting cameos…

The shift in setting helps differentiate Glass Onion from the more autumnal first film, ensuring a brighter and more sun-drenched offering. The island setting can’t help but draw comparisons to some of Agatha Christie’s best loved works and their adaptations, specifically “Evil Under the Sun”, although at times the film feels like it is drawing on elements of “And Then There Were None”.

Cleverly not wanting to succumb to sequel curses, Glass Onion feels bigger and bolder than its predecessor. While the first film poked fun at elements of racism and the alt right, this film feels like its aim is placed more on tech billionaires and the upper middle class with some unsubtle comparisons to real-life figures – it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to see Sarah Palin in Claire, while Miles could easily be a counterpart to Elon Musk or Steve Jobs. While some of its criticism is more on the nose, for the most part it hits the mark and is a wildly entertaining time.

As with the first film, Rian Johnson shows a penchant for needle drops with an eclectic soundtrack including the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody”, The Beatles’ “Glass Onion” (which lends the film its title), Nat King Cole’s “Mona Lisa”, and several tracks from David Bowie.

Many of the cast are playing against type and clearly relishing the opportunity. Daniel Craig is afforded more of a central role here, with the lack of a clear replacement for Ana De Armas’ Marta Cabrera guaranteeing that we get to see more of Benoit’s sleuthing skills. Johnson is able to develop the character with Craig once again committing to absurdist dialogue and physical comedy. Kate Hudson is a standout as the scene-stealing Birdy, lighting the screen up every time she appears, while Janelle Monáe anchors much of the film’s narrative as the mysterious Andi whose relationship with the group is seemingly strained as we unpick what occurred. Monáe once again expresses the depth of her screen presence glimpsed in Moonlight and Hidden Figures.

If lacking in the surprise factor of Knives Out, Glass Onion is a riotous time, dialling up the laughs and mystery with cameos and surprises galore, and layers of clever dialogue and writing. It is a different beast than the first film but nonetheless impressive, with Johnson showing his love for the genre and the greats in crafting a fine mystery film all of his own. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will be sure to please fans of the first film and murder mysteries more widely, whetting appetites for the announced third instalment that is still to come.

Score: 20/24

With that in mind, we here at The Film Magazine are to judge the always referential, always funny and clearly artistic talents of one of mainstream film’s most unique directors. In this latest edition of Ranked, we’re looking to the Cornetto Trilogy and beyond to proffer which films from Edgar Wright’s feature directorial filmography are the best and which are the worst, judging each entry on artistic merit, cultural significance and popular consensus.

Follow @thefilmagazine on Twitter.

7. Last Night in Soho (2021)

Last Night in Soho Review

A love letter to all things 60s, Last Night in Soho’s ambition can get the better of it sometimes, though it remains an ambitious attempt at an out-and-out horror from director Edgar Wright; one anchored by strong performances from Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy.

The first half is especially effective at capturing swinging 60s Soho, London in its heyday with some fine cinematography from Park Chan-wook regular Chung-hoon Chung.

Last Night in Soho falls towards the lower end of Wright’s filmography, mostly due to its final act which split audiences and critics, though it remains a worthwhile watch due to its loving craftsmanship and knockout 60s soundtrack.

6. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Review

This is a fine first foray away from collaboration’s with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for Edgar Wright, and is a great showcase for his unique blend of action, humour and pathos.

Focusing on down on his luck Scott Pilgrim and his relationship with his area’s newest arrival Ramona, Scott Pilgrim boasts some fantastic set pieces between the titular Scott and a series of Ramona’s exes.

It falls lower in Wright’s filmography as it is perhaps lacking some of the universal appeal of his earlier works, but make no mistake that Scott Pilgrim shows off Wright’s love of comic books and video games, with some scenes acting as clear homages to both forms of entertainment and the film remaining a must-watch for fans of the director’s work.

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Uncharted (2022)
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Screenwriter: Rafe Lee Judkins, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway
Starring: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle

The ‘Uncharted’ video games have been huge since 2007, combining brisk action and a similar style of adventure as can typically be found in the likes of The Mummy, National Treasure and Indiana Jones. With five games in the series and an inherently cinematic style to the action, the franchise has long seemed ripe for a big screen adaptation. Even so, adapting the Naughty Dog games has proven a difficult task with the project going through development hell at Sony Pictures, a number of marquee directors from Travis Knight (Bumblebee) to David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) and even Shawn Levy (Free Guy) attached to the project at various points with a number of actors considered for the role of central protagonist Nathan Drake. In February 2022, the Uncharted project has finally been released with Spider-Man himself Tom Holland in the role of Nate, Mark Wahlberg as his mentor and friend Victor “Sully” Sullivan, and Venom director Ruben Fleischer at the helm.

The film tells an original story that borrows from the games’ mythology and character arcs. We see Nate and Sully facing off against wealthy adversaries to find a long-lost treasure hoard belonging to Portuguese explorers. Antonio Banderas plays antagonist Santiago Moncada, with Sophia Ali as Chloe Frazer (a character from the games) and Tati Gabrielle as Braddock, a character who has something of a history with Sully.

Uncharted acts as a fresh origin story for Drake, Tom Holland’s version working as a bartender and picking pockets on the side. Wahlberg’s Sully has a relationship with Nate’s long lost brother Sam and so ropes Nate into being his accomplice. As with the games, this is a globetrotting affair taking us from Barcelona to the Philippines although it never feels quite on the same level as with the games, perhaps missing some of the jungle or desert sequences that famously made the video game franchise so cinematic.

The film’s opening pace is frenetic, largely avoiding bogging itself down in character introductions. While this means it has a lively zip to proceedings, often the characters (including Drake and Sully) can feel quite flat and underdeveloped. For a franchise with awe-inspiring set pieces at it its core, the action hereafter largely fails to replicate that of its predecessors, although there are some enjoyable sequences splintered throughout.

Despite its naturally exciting premise, there is often a surprising lack of urgency, which is no more prominent than in how the plot develops at the behest of convenience rather than any meaningful character action. To make matters worse, the villains lack any form of menace. One standout sequence is a fast and brutal fight in a Barcelona bar that feels more in keeping with the tone of the games, but this is an exception that proves the rule and highlights how much of a shame it is that the film couldn’t generate more highlight-worthy moments of quality.

The casting of Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg in the leading roles perhaps caused the most nervousness amongst fans in the run up to the film’s release and, while the characterisation doesn’t quite line up with their game counterparts, the pair are clearly putting in strong efforts. Holland is charming and shows he can lead a film of this scale, though he rarely feels close to the character he is supposed to be inhabiting. Meanwhile, Wahlberg is relegated to the role of comic relief for much of the middle act, detracting from the actor’s impact. Most disappointingly, Sophia Ali’s performance is questionable at best, with some decidedly interesting accent work on display, while the villains are never given a chance to explain their motives or to offer much by the way of threat to our protagonists.

Despite obvious setbacks, Uncharted is a perfectly adequate two hours at the cinema. With the number of delays and changes to its cast and directors, it certainly could have been much worse. What will be most frustrating for fans of the video game franchise and distributors Sony is that the film fails to deliver the same level of quality as its source material, though newcomers might find more to enjoy. This is not a film without merit, its short-changing of the fanbase unlikely to detract from how it successfully fills the fantasy-action-adventure void left by The Mummy and National Treasure.

15/24

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Last Night in Soho (2021)
Director: Edgar Wright
Screenwriters: Edgar Wright, Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Terrence Stamp, Diana Rigg, Rita Tushingham

Edgar Wright has long been interested in the horror genre, of course paying homage to and sending it up with his feature film debut, 2004’s Shaun of the Dead. He has spoken about his love for classics of the genre, especially John Landis’ An American Werewolf In London, and his latest feature (his first since 2017’s Baby Driver) is the psychological horror Last Night in Soho. This 2021 release plays out in a dual timeframe, with the bulk of its runtime set in present day London and a series of dream sequences taking us back to Swinging Sixties Soho.

This is Wright’s first direct foray into outright horror, and it’s clear that the filmmaker (who acts as director and co-screenwriter here) takes heavy inspiration from Roman Polanski’s Repulsion, Nicholas Roeg’s Venice-set Don’t Look Now and the Giallo horrors of Dario Argento in particular.

We follow fashion student Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) who is obsessed with all things 60s and takes many of her grandmother’s records with her when she moves from Redruth in Cornwall to London. After moving into a lodging on Goodge Street, Eloise begins to have visions of the 1960s and a former inhabitant of her room, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). What begins as a dive into the world of Eloise’s dreams takes a darker turn as we plunge into a world of mystery and dread, with no one being quite who they seem.

Last Night in Soho is a wonderful advert for Edgar Wright’s creativity as a director. The opening segment – set in the 1960s – shows Eloise walking through night-time Soho to the Café De Paris through a cinema ad-horned with a poster for 1965’s Thunderball. It’s mesmerising. There, Wright sets up an electric dance sequence featuring back and forth between Taylor-Joy and Mckenzie, with Matt Smith’s Jack featuring as a sleazy hang-around who acts as a manager and love interest for Taylor-Joy’s Sandie.

The performances are by and large one of the film’s highlights, with Thomasin McKenzie’s introverted Eloise offset by Anya Taylor-Joy’s outgoing aspiring singer Sandie. Terrence Stamp is given a late chance to shine as a broody and mysterious individual frequenting Soho’s Toucan bar, and we are also treated to a fine final performance from Diana Rigg who is central to the film’s plot.

Camera work from Park Chan-Wook’s cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung ensures this is one of Wright’s most visually arresting films. The clear love he holds for this time period and for Soho itself is apparent. The soundtrack is a stand out aspect of the film too, and arguably one of the best within Wright’s canon of work – which is of course quite the achievement given that he has a knack for finding the perfect music to match each of his films. We are treated to an array of 60s classics including music from The Kinks, Cilla Black, The Who and Dusty Springfield. Perhaps the most prominently used song is Petula Clark’s “Downtown”, which features in addition to Anya Taylor-Joy singing an acapella version.

The final act of the film has earned some criticism and is perhaps a jarring shift from the acts that have preceded it. While not entirely derailing the film, some of the story choices may seem questionable, especially in relation to the depiction of female violence. While this is certainly divisive, the majority of the film is an enjoyable transportation back to the 1960s.

If Last Night In Soho is not Edgar Wright’s finest moment as a director, it is a fine advert for his obvious qualities as a filmmaker, with the slow build-up of action creating an undercurrent of tension and showing his appreciation for the horror genre. The soundtrack and performances are pitch perfect and help to build a true sense of what the 1960s might have been like: glamorous on the surface but with something altogether more murky lurking underneath. If the final act doesn’t necessarily land some of the plot points teased earlier in the film, it shouldn’t ultimately prevent anyone from enjoying the film as a whole, Last Night in Soho being a loving ode to a time and place close to Edgar Wright’s heart.

18/24

No Sudden Move (2021)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriters: Ed Solomon
Starring: Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Kieran Culkin, David Harbour, Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, Jon Hamm

Steven Soderbergh and heist movies have a long and varied history. In addition to the all-star, smooth Ocean’s films, Soderbergh has also helmed the likes of Out Of Sight, The Limey and the comedy-drama Logan Lucky. Soderbergh’s most recent effort is the 1950s thriller No Sudden Move, which features a typical all-star cast including Don Cheadle, Jon Hamm, Kieran Culkin, Ray Liotta, Benicio del Toro and Brendan Fraser. Such is Soderbergh’s prolificacy that this is remarkably his 28th film as a director.

It is a shame audiences have been deprived of a cinema release for No Sudden Move as it would surely have commanded an audience. In addition to the clear selling point of its cast, the film has earned strong reviews, such as the one published in The Times: “Soderbergh remains criminally good”, ‘it is an ingeniously overstuffed film’. There were further positive reviews from The Guardian and Evening Standard, indicating that this has been one of Soderbergh’s most well-received of his recent endeavours.

No Sudden Move revolves around a job gone wrong as a hired crew are stitched up for what seems like a straightforward job. Curt Goynes (Cheadle), Ronald Russo (del Toro) and Charley (Culkin) are hired to blackmail Matt Wertz (David Harbour), and the film becomes somewhat of a cat and mouse game with racial tensions rife and the police drawn into the web by Joe Finney (Jon Hamm). The plot can be difficult to follow on occasion, and in typical Soderbergh fashion doesn’t go in the direction audiences may expect – No Sudden Move will perhaps warrant repeat viewings to decipher all the character motivations and the nuances of the story.

No Sudden Move’s cast was bound to be one of the film’s strengths and that is certainly the case. Benicio del Toro and Don Cheadle work well as an odd couple that bounce off each other throughout. These two are far and away the most developed characters in the film, each helping to drive much of the plot. With such a stacked cast, there are times in which it feels like some roles are more extended cameos, with Jon Hamm and Ray Liotta being reduced into this category, but the comeback period of Brendan Fraser is well-and-truly in full flow, with the former lead of The Mummy making a great impact that is integral to No Sudden Move’s success.

The 1950s Detroit setting helps to set this film apart from other Soderbergh crime vehicles and utilises these assets with strong attention to period detail, whether that be the suits or the cars that bustle up and down throughout. The background story revolving around feuds between automotive kingpins like Ford adds layers to the main event and also works to flesh out the period detail. There is something very Coen Brothers about this style of filmmaking, and as such Soderbergh is able to show off his versatility as a director – all the while Ed Solomon’s script maintains contemporary relevancy through focusing on racial tensions and characters that exist between the good and evil archetypes.

No Sudden Move continues Soderbergh’s strong post-retirement phase and is a winning return to a genre that he has helped to make his own in the past three decades. If perhaps it doesn’t quite scale the dizzying heights of Ocean’s Eleven or Logan Lucky, it is good fun led by an irresistible cast who all deliver strong performances. No Sudden Move is a tad overstuffed, but once the narrative is unpicked, it is a clever labyrinth with some intriguing surprises along the way.

19/24

The French Dispatch (2021)
Director: Wes Anderson
Screenwriters: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright, Adrien Brody, Benicio del Toro, Léa Seydoux, Elisabeth Moss, Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton

Wes Anderson’s style is by now so distinctive that it has been much parodied and imitated, and yet it remains a glorious tinderbox of invention that continues to enthral many audiences. Fresh off the success of The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle Of Dogs, the famed director returns with The French Dispatch, a loving ode to France and print journalism. Delayed from its original July 2020 release, The French Dispatch premiered at Cannes and London Film Festival before a wide release in October 2021. To date, this might be the most Anderson movie of them all; how much mileage anyone gets out of The French Dispatch may depend on how well versed they are in this particular filmmaker’s ouevre.

The French Dispatch essentially comprises of four short stories featuring articles from the final edition of the titular French Dispatch, a supplement in the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun from the fictional French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé. We begin with the news that the magazine’s editor Arthur Howitzer Jr (Bill Murray) has died and that he had wished for the magazine to wind down upon his death, thus the four stories are to be the magazine’s last.

The stories in question are as follows…

“The Cycling Reporter” by Herbsaint Sazerac (played by Owen Wilson), navigates Enui by day and night, giving readers a tour of the town the magazine operates from. While this is a relatively short segment, it still showcases Owen Wilson’s natural ability to fit seamlessly into Anderson’s projects, Wilson of course having co-written the first three films Anderson worked on.

“The Concrete Masterpiece” by J.K.L. Berensen (Tilda Swinton in fine comedic form) focuses on incarcerated artist Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio del Toro), and particularly his relationship with his muse Simone (Léa Seydoux). The bulk of the story operates as a play on the art world with Adrien Brody’s Julien Cadazio an art dealer of great success deeply interested in Moses’ works. This segment acts as a showcase for its cast with Brody of course a standout in The Grand Budapest Hotel and Del Toro showing a natural aptitude for the whimsical nature of Anderson’s work.

“Revisions to a Manifesto” by Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand) depicts a series of turbulent student protests. It’s clear these sequences strongly bear the influence of French New Wave pioneers Truffaut and Godard, with direct nods to Masculin Feminin especially. This sequence is led by Timothée Chalamet’s Zeffirelli, a leader within the student protest movement.

The final story is “The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner” by Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright). This story is almost a story within a story, with Wright giving a TV interview recounting an absurd encounter in which the Comissaire’s son was kidnapped, and a story involving police cooking. This is arguably the deepest of the overarching stories, being more soulful and introspective than some of the earlier segments.

The cast are, as any fan of Anderson’s work would expect, on top form. And, while some certainly have less to do than others, the leads in each of the main segments are clearly having a blast, each illustrating their understandings of the nuances of Anderson’s dialogue. Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe and Elisabeth Moss could do with more to do, but with a cast as loaded as this there are always those who draw the short straw.

Robert Yeoman’s Cinematography is a constant delight. Flipping between black and white and colour throughout, Yeoman handles the juxtaposition with great skill and allows certain elements in each story to shine, whether that be Moses’ works of art or the piercing blue eyes of Saoirse Ronan. The production design, which is a treat across Anderson’s filmography, is once again a consummate joy, be it the offices of the French Dispatch or Café Le Sans Blague which makes appearances throughout.

While perhaps The French Dispatch is not Anderson’s most free-flowing film, it is an amalgamation of everything Anderson has put to film to date, drawing on his love of cartoons, newspapers and French culture (in particular cinema). This is a love letter to the world of journalism, and it contains some stellar lead performances and wildly creative directorial choices. If you are not already enamoured by this director’s style, The French Dispatch may not be for you, but if you are you will certainly find much to love.

21/24

Isle of Dogs (2018)
Director: Wes Anderson
Screenwriters: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Greta Gerwig, Yoko Ono

Following on from the critical and public smash that was The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson returned to screens after a break of four years with 2018’s Isle of Dogs. The film was Anderson’s second foray into the world of stop-motion animation after 2009’s Fantastic Mr Fox. As with all Anderson projects, the ensemble cast proved to be one of the main draws, on this occasion led by the voice of ‘Breaking Bad’ star Bryan Cranston and Anderson regulars Bill Murray and Jeff Goldblum, each of whom played members of a group of dogs exiled to Trash Island by the infamous Kenji Kobayashi, mayor of Megasaki, whose family was proven to have a generations-deep hatred of canines.

Upon release, Isle of Dogs earned rave reviews and received nominations throughout awards season for Best Animated Feature. Writing in The Guardian, leading British film critic Mark Kermode noted that “Isle of Dogs is a delight: funny, touching and full of heartfelt warmth and wit”. This certainly wasn’t the only outpouring of love for the film, with many noting how well Anderson’s style suited the animation, praising the film’s quirkiness and humour. There have been some detractors who have criticised the way it depicts Japanese culture, with accusations of cultural appropriation, but the overarching consensus is that Isle of Dogs turned out to be one of Anderson’s stronger films.

The core narrative of Isle of Dogs centres on Mayor Kobayashi’s nephew Atari (Koyu Rankin) who sets off to Trash Island to recover his guard dog spots (voiced by Liev Schreiber). Along the way Atari encounters Chief (Cranston), Duke (Goldblum), Rex (Edward Norton), Boss (Murray) and King (Bob Balaban), and together they form a ragtag crew of exiled dogs, all of whom are slightly world-weary and struggling to survive in their newfound world separated from humanity.

The story focuses on both the situation on the island itself and the developing issues on the mainland, where we follow efforts from the government to cover up the fake disease that was used as the reason to exile the dogs. We also follow US foreign exchange student Tracy Walker (voiced by Lady Bird and Little Women director Greta Gerwig) in her efforts to expose the mayor’s lies.

The voice cast is one of the film’s clearest strengths, with Bryan Cranston suitably gruff and grizzled as Chief, a dog whose relationship with Atari and his fellow dogs form the film’s core. Jeff Goldblum’s Duke acts more as comic relief, while there is a fun smaller part for Tilda Swinton as Oracle, a seemingly wise dog.

While the film zips along as many of Anderson’s other films do, it still has a strong sense of heart and intimacy, and the way the relationship between Atari and Chief develops is especially indicative of this.

The score from Anderson regular Alexandre Desplat is another of the film’s high points. Incorporating traditional Japanese soundscapes and built around taiko drums with flourishes of woodwind, the score acts as a nice contrast to Desplat’s previous Anderson compositions – there are even nods to the works of Akira Kurosawa and glimpses of Prokofiev’s “Lieutenant Kijé” throughout the film. In between the more typically Japanese sounds of the score, Desplat and Anderson leave room for spots of popular music as has become customary of Anderson’s filmography, in this case focusing mainly on the eerie tones of The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.

Isle of Dogs is a loving tale of canine and human friendship, recreating the culture of Japan in a heartfelt manner that illustrates Anderson’s appreciation for Japanese culture and the nation’s people. As with other Anderson films, the offbeat nature may prove to be off-putting to newcomers, but Anderson purists are in for a treat filled with familiar voices who blend into their surroundings meticulously.

Isle of Dogs once again illustrated Wes Anderson’s versatility as a director and was a bold move away from the trappings of The Grand Budapest Hotel which had earned such acclaim. With a filmography that only looks set to grow, one can only hope that Anderson makes further trips into the world of animation.

20/24

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Director: Wes Anderson
Screenwriter: Wes Anderson
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Mathieu Amalric, Owen Wilson, Léa Seydoux, Jude Law, Tom Wilkinson, F. Murray Abraham

Following the release of the acclaimed Moonrise Kingdom in 2012, Wes Anderson would make perhaps one of the defining films of the 2010s and one of the most praised in his storied filmography. 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel has proven to be a gargantuan success in the seven years since its release, earning the joint most nominations at the 2015 Oscars with 9 (equal with Birdman), and featuring on the BBC’s 2016 list of the Best Films of the 21^st Century, a list that also featured Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums and Moonrise Kingdom.

The Grand Budapest Hotel was immediately acclaimed in reviews from most major sources, with Empire publishing, “For those willing to check in without prejudice, this may well be among Anderson’s better films, one of the few that repay repeated viewings”. The Grand Budapest Hotel seems to be a film that even some of Anderson’s detractors have found various levels of enjoyment in. While it is too soon to say if this is his most universally praised film, the sheer levels of fandom it has created indicate it is in contention to be one of his most beloved.

This colourful 2014 release follows a lowly lobby boy named Zero (Tony Revolori) as he starts his life working at the eponymous establishment in the fictional nation of Zubrowka. Following a series of flashbacks through various decades, the bulk of the story occupies the space between the two World Wars, acting somewhat as a musing on the rise of Fascism in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1930s. Zero works under the tutelage of the eccentric Monsieur M Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), the hotel’s concierge who has had a number of affairs with elderly wealthy women including the mysterious Madame D (Tilda Swinton). Following Madame D’s death, Gustave and Zero are embroiled in a series of escapades relating to Madame D’s will and the grievances of her family, finding themselves at odds with local law enforcement.

Perhaps the film’s biggest strength is its tone, Anderson fully committing to his trademarked quirky dialogue and humour which on paper is at odds with the time period in which the story is set. The balance between humour and darkness at times walks a fine line, but Ralph Fiennes’ Gustave is never short of a quip or two and this often offsets some of the darker moments. This is arguably one of Anderson’s most outright funny films, and whether or not it would be classed as a comedy certainly leans heavily on the comedic chops of its leads, with Fiennes excelling in a role worlds away from most of his work to this point and earning some of the best reviews in his own storied career.

Alexandre Desplat’s score is one of his finest – featuring notable Russian folk undertones – and rightly won the Oscar for Original Score. The score is complementary of the film’s setting and period, and works wonderfully in contrast to Anderson’s more pop and rock heavy soundtracks present in the filmmaker’s previous films.

While all of Anderson’s films are ensemble affairs to differing extents, The Grand Budapest Hotel features one of his finest, with each of the cast getting their moments to shine, be it Willem Dafoe as a mercenary, Jeff Goldblum as a show-stealing lawyer, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton or Saoirse Ronan. While the film does well to allow its large cast of supporting characters to have moments in the spotlight, the film undoubtedly belongs to the duo of Ralph Fiennes and Tony Revolori.

It’s not hard to see why The Grand Budapest Hotel has gleaned such love over the past seven years. It is a perfect encapsulation of the best of Anderson’s works, with its fast-paced dialogue and candy coloured visual palette. Anchored by an eccentric Ralph Fiennes offering some of the finest work of his career, the tone is balanced to perfection, its absurdity meeting deeper moments in a seamless and wholly enjoyable fashion. There are few films that can boast such a complete authorial vision as The Grand Budapest Hotel, a film that sets the high marker for Wes Anderson’s acclaimed career.

23/24

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Director: Wes Anderson
Screenwriters: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Starring: Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances Mcdormand, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward

Wes Anderson’s career dipped slightly in the middle to late 2000s with The Darjeeling Limited and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou earning relatively mediocre reviews, yet with Fantastic Mr Fox the director returned to role of critical darling, a status solidified by follow-up Moonrise Kingdom in 2012; a film that earned levels of acclaim and awards attention Anderson hadn’t received since Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums released over ten years earlier. Moonrise Kingdom remains one of the auteur’s most recognisable and beloved films and was widely regarded as one of 2012’s best releases, earning Oscar nominations for Anderson and his screenwriting partner Roman Coppola. It is also one of Anderson’s most personal tales, inspired in part by his own childhood.

Moonrise Kingdom earned rave reviews from most outlets upon its release with many labelling it as the filmmaker’s return to form. Empire awarded it 4 stars, saying that it was “As funny, bittersweet and as distinct as you’d expect from Wes Anderson, a director who helps you know you are not alone. Terrific performances from sprogs to stars and a lovely sense of the sorrow and joy of growing up”. Many have drawn comparisons between Moonrise Kingdom and Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, which is cited as one of the pioneering films in the French New Wave movement of the 1950s and 60s. Truffaut himself has been cited amongst Anderson’s biggest influences and so it is no surprise that the French filmmaker’s iconic coming of age tale would be an influence for Anderson’s take on the genre.

In Moonrise Kingdom we follow the adventures of outcast youths Sam Shakusky, a Boy Scout attending Camp Ivanhoe’s Kaki scouts, and his friendship with Suzy Bishop. Both children run away from their respective homes and the majority of the film follows their exploits in the wild, with their respective families and the local adult community trying to rescue them. Anderson’s unorthodox approach to this tried and tested genre is to be complemented, as is the film’s use of humour.

As with the rest of Wes Anderson’s filmography, the casting of Moonrise Kingdom is impeccable. With much of the work falling on the shoulders of two relative unknowns, in Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, much of the film could have easily gone awry, but the pair are terrific with some fantastic chemistry and heart-warming moments as well as the ability to deliver Anderson’s unique and often frenetic dialogue.

The adult cast are also on hand to offer some stalwart support, with Anderson regular Bill Murray on fine form as Susie’s overprotective father, and newcomers Frances McDormand and Edward Norton proving to be inspired choices as Susie’s mother and Scouts leader Randy Ward respectively. The standouts are, however, Bruce Willis as Island Police Captain Duffy Sharp, and Tilda Swinton as the menacing Child Services representative. Contrasting many of his action roles and showing a genuine aptitude for Anderson’s style akin perhaps to Ralph Fiennes’ transition in The Grand Budapest Hotel, Willis in particular shines in perhaps his best performance of the 2010s.

Anderson’s continued collaboration with Director of Photography Robert Yeoman hit peak form in Moonrise Kingdom, offering one of the best examples of the distinctive colour palettes available in Wes Anderson’s films. Their work together here can be marked for its use of yellows, oranges and blues, as well as particularly notable stills of the island’s locations, including its lighthouse and Scouts camp. This is one of Anderson’s most striking films, and while his style has been imitated copious amounts there can be no denying the quality of his unique visual style in this contemporary great.

Moonrise Kingdom is a charming take on adolescence, a constantly entertaining film that possesses the levels of heart and warmth audiences have come to expect from a Wes Anderson film. The cast are absolutely terrific, with the two young leads holding their own against some marquee adult cast members, and the film manages to cram a lot of detail into its 90 minute runtime whilst remaining perfectly paced. Both a fitting tribute to some of Anderson’s favourite coming of age tales and a fine film within the genre, this is one of Anderson’s greatest releases to date and perhaps the one that best showcases his visual style and unique use of dialogue.

21/24

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Director: Wes Anderson
Screenwriters: Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach
Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, Brian Cox, Owen Wilson

Having made a name for himself with five live-action features, it was somewhat of a left field decision for auteur Wes Anderson to take on a stop-motion animation project in 2009, yet with his adaptation of the iconic Roald Dahl children’s story “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, Anderson would put to use his ten-plus years of being inspired by animation (seen most clearly in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) to assemble a quirky and charming film complete with a typical ensemble cast led in this case by George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray.

While the Americanisation of British author Roald Dahl’s original novel may anger some purists, the general consensus upon Fantastic Mr. Fox’s release was that Anderson had done a fine job of marrying the iconic novelist’s work with his own distinctive style, keeping the majority of the story beats from the novel and adding dashes of Andersonian quirkiness and humour. In 2009, Empire noted: “In this era of photo-realising the fantastic and precision-made stop-motion prettyscapes, it is oddly gratifying to find that Wes Anderson, in his first sole venture into an animated universe, is having none of it. He is still busy ploughing his wry indie groove, only now in the guise of miniature foxes of rubbery complexion.”

In Anderson’s adaptation, the story plays out in a similar vein to Dahl’s original tale with our titular Mr Fox, once a con artist, undertaking a daring heist on farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean who farm Chicken, Goose, and Duck, Turkey and Apple, respectively. There are, however, added touches with the rivalry for Mr Fox’s attention between Ash and his cousin Kristofferson, which add some depth and heart to the story, Anderson also managing to find room for some trademark music cues with tracks from The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys.

The voice cast are a particular highlight, with a mix of Anderson regulars including Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and Willem Dafoe, and newcomers George Clooney and Meryl Streep. Clooney fits Mr Fox perfectly, reminiscent perhaps of his work in the Ocean’s franchise, while Streep’s softness as Mrs Fox balances out Clooney’s wry Mr Fox to great effect, with Bill Murray slipping in well as iconic side character Badger.

The fusion of Anderson’s distinctive style and Dahl’s more anglo-centric tale is an odd marriage that works exceptionally well, which is no small part due to the score of regular collaborator Alexandre Desplat. Marking the duo’s first collaboration, Fantastic Mr. Fox is lifted by the great composer’s work, Desplat earning an Oscar nomination in the Best Original Score category (an award he would go on to win for his work in collaboration with Anderson on The Grand Budapest Hotel). Deplat’s work here feels engrained in the rural locations of the film, complementing Anderson’s immersive animation and adding to the film’s sense of escapist fun.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is certainly one of Wes Anderson’s most ambitious films, taking an acclaimed story from one of the most recognisable names in children’s literature and daring to put his own stamp on it. For the most part he pulls this off in characteristic fashion, channelling the key story beats and themes of the novel whilst ensuring his own take remains very much a recognisable Anderson work. A charming, wry and incredibly fun film that took Anderson’s career in unexpected and intriguing directions, Fantastic Mr. Fox is humourous on the screen and adventurous behind the scenes, a film likely to please both adults and children alike.

21/24