Wes Anderson’s latest film ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ is nice and original lightweight entertainment in a summer filled to the brim with sequels and bloated blockbusters. It’s a simple story of young love and adventure, but Anderson’s unique sense of humor and the film’s emphasis on youth innocence is what truly stands out.

Set in the summer of 1965, the story follows 12-year-old Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman), a member of the Khaki Scouts of the fictional New England island “New Penzance.” Sam is the film’s plucky hero who’s knowledgeable in wilderness and survival skills. He’s in love with Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), whom he met the year before. When the two run away together the adults – namely Suzy’s parents and Sam’s Khaki Scout leaders – are sent into a frenzy trying to find the lost children before an oncoming hurricane hits the island.

Sam and Suzy’s adventure is full of joy and pure bliss. It’s never mentioned how long the two plan to live in the wilderness. They only have a limited supply of food and they’re constantly moving – never staying in just one location. The conversations they have about their dreams, their lives, their history, are all insightful. These are some mature children, maybe even more so than their adult counterparts.

The adults in the film are the opposite of the children. They’re all miserable and dull. They’re all unhappy people suffering from the failures they’ve made in their lives. Suzy’s parents (played by Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) are terrible parents and in a loveless marriage. Police Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) is in love with Mrs. Bishop, but the fact that they can never truly be together disgruntles him. Edward Norton is the bored Khaki Scout Captain Randy Ward, who’s terrible at the job and a math teacher outside of summer. These adults represent the kind of people the children will become after their limited years as carefree children.

The adventure the two children embark upon surprisingly packs in some emotional drama, action, and even death. A small portion of the film feels like a thriller, with the rest of Sam’s Khaki Scout acting like a gang of swat team members as they searched for him. These kids are armed with pretty heavy-duty weapons, like knives! An awkward sensual scene of sorts also plays out in the film, which may feel a little too graphic and uncomfortable, though it does represent the maturation and awakening of the characters involved. Some parts of the film play too fantastical and unbelievable, but this is the kind of film where that’s okay. These characters and setting are all believable but their actions are not, which is why certain outlandish events don’t feel out of place in the film.

‘Moonrise Kingdom’ features Wes Anderson’s usual emphasis on certain colors, this time the palette consists mostly of brown and khaki, with some lush greens and daring reds. The film also features some great camerawork mostly in its continuous one-shot sequences, with the camera pivoting from a central point.

Wes Anderson has directed a unique catalogue consisting of ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’, ‘Rushmore’, ‘The Darjeering Limited’, and ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’. His latest features fits perfectly in this list. ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ thrives in its whimsical tale and dry humor. It makes the most of its talented cast, with surprisingly good performances by its two child leads, and a just-as-surprisingly poignant performance by Bruce Willis.