MOONRISE KINGDOM

Dir: Wes Anderson

Starring: Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray

*****

The films of Wes Anderson are, for some people, an acquired taste. Like the Cohen brothers, his love of a stylised world tends to deter those who prefer their drama more naturalistic. His key films – Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou – share a similar sensibility, mixing the wilfully naïve with a rigorous art design and subtle nostalgia for lost youth.

Moonrise Kingdom is a live action return after an animated detour with The Fantastic Mr Fox and is possibly his most Wes Anderson-like film to date. I found it a joy from start to finish.

Set in a nostalgic 1965 it takes place on the fictional New Penzance Island, a New England locale bringing to mind an American version the sort of places kids used to have adventures in Arthur Ransome books. And adventures they certainly have: two eccentric 12 year olds – he a khaki scout, she a rebellious bookworm – fall in love and run off together to the other side of the island.

The cast (including Harvey Keitel, Frances McDormand, Bob Balaban, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman) is great, the detail amazing, the film in-jokes delightful (the Shawshank Redemption gag is very funny), there's a cool quirky soundtrack, and the film has real heart.

Totally wonderful.

Some films – like their stars – are pretty much bulletproof. Nothing I say about The Expendables 2 (***) makes any difference: if you liked the first one you'll like this; if it's the sort of thing you wouldn't touch with a pole of the ten foot variety then this ultra-violent, quip-happy slice of action cheese ain't going to change your mind. Simon (Con Air) West directs with gusto and it's hard to deny the guilty pleasure of watching the biggest ever collection of multi-generational action men doing what they do best. The plot? Mercenaries, missions ('What's the plan?” 'We find him, we track him, we kill him.”), macho stuff. What did you expect?

The three Bourne films starring Matt Damon were very clever stuff. They succeeded because the bone-crunching action was matched by equally complex and well-thought-out plots. The Bourne Legacy (***) is very nicely made. But, if you compare it to the previous outings, it is clearly running on empty. Jeremy Renner makes for a terrific non-Bourne Bourne but basically what we're looking at is a (simpler) version of the first film with a few tweaks. It's a very enjoyable thriller but, bottom line, it's yet another attempt to stretch a franchise beyond its sell-by date.

Based on a book by yet another Scandinavian crime writer (Jens Lapidus), Easy Money (**** ½) tells the stories of three characters: Jorge, an Albanian crim seen escaping from prison as the film starts; Mrado, a Serbian gangster; and JW, a business student pretending to be rich so he can mix with the social elite. His greed and ambition land him way out of his depth and smack in the middle of a violent world of drug smuggling and money laundering. Shot in a hand-held style very different from previous Swedish offerings this is rather brilliant stuff, superbly directed and edited, managing to give real complexity to the characters while telling an engrossing story. Top class.

Iron Sky (***) is a film with one idea, but it's a very good one. It must have been the shortest and easiest pitch ever: 'Nazis on the moon!” Movies have had fun with the moon landing. Doctor Manhattan and the Decepticons were both up there, this time it's a massive Nazi base, its inhabitants living in a glorious fantasy world of the neverending Reich. The film looks fantastic, a testament to art direction on a limited budget. Sadly there aren't really enough jokes to go round (the Sarah Palin imitation quickly palls) and there's not really much of a story. But it looks great and slips by painlessly.