'The Grand Budapest Hotel' Is An Instant Hit With Critics, In Praise Of Wes Anderson's Delightful New Movie [Trailer + Pictures]

The Grand Budapest Hotel is preparing to throw its doors open to the world, having premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February. Director Wes Anderson has built his career upon his idiosyncratically quirky, colourful and surrealist movies and the eagerly-anticipated Budapest looks to be no different.

Critics Have Heaped Praise On To 'The Grand Budapest Hotel.'

Early reviews have bathed the movie in a warm glow of praise, loving the kitsch details, kooky plotline, and star-packed cast, which includes (deep breath), Ralph Fiennes, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and Harvey Keitel.

Check out exciting clips from 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' here.

Fiennes plays Gustave, a charismatic concierge who is known for keeping his guests entertained. He decides to train enthusiastic young lobby worker Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori) to be the best hotel worker possible and the pair form a close and protective bond. When one of the hotel's special guests is found murdered, police accuse Gustave so he runs away and finds himself in a cat-and-mouse chase with the police and the victim's family.

Watch The 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' Trailer:

"Ralph Fiennes is on glorious form as Monsieur Gustave," gushes The Guardian, adding that he is "energetic and exacting" and "absolutely brilliant." Peter Bradshaw likens Anderson's hotel to "the most magnificent full-scale doll's house," remarking that the film is "A deeply pleasurable immersion."

The Independent can't find anything to criticise either, saying Budapest is "gorgeous to look at" with a "wonderfully jazzy score" and "lively and eccentric star cameos dotted throughout the movie." Geoffrey MacNab praises the way Anderson juxtaposes a fairly dark storyline with such joyful cinematography, writing "It's a measure of Anderson's skill that he can make a film whose main subject is loss seem so light-hearted and pleasurable."

A Star-Packed Cast, Wonderful Cinematography & A Cracking Plot Makes 'Budapest' Worth Watching.

"In some of his earlier features, the quirkiness verged on the infuriating," he says, adding "Here, by contrast, the effect is magical," which is perhaps owing to the film's wickedly talented cast, plenty of action scenes and chases and a dark undertone to balance out the fluff.

The Telegraph also gives full marks to the triumphant movie, only criticising that Anderson's film is "annoyingly perfect." "It's wonderful," says Tim Robey, who says viewers are likely to "get light-headed on the pure fun of it, which unleashes fresh waves of fun-within-fun at every point where you worry it might dry up."

Wes Anderson Dresses His Film With His Characteristic Charm, But Underpins The Sweetness With Dark Themes.

"It has the clockwork plotting of an Ernst Lubitsch farce, whose well-oiled wheels feel like enough of a subject in themselves," he remarks, adding "Anderson doesn't milk nostalgia, in the misty-eyed old Hollywood mode, but turns it on its head. We find ourselves situated in a roomy and delectable vision of the past, feeling oddly nostalgic for the present."

Our own Rich Cline is similarly impressed: "The Grand Budapest Hotel is a heartwarming comedy about a very unusual friendship," he says. Click here to read our full review.

Wes Anderson Fans Will Find A Lot To Love In 'Budapest,' & So Will Sceptical Newbies!

Do we need to give any more reason for you to see The Grand Budapest Hotel? One more? Go on then: the film's currently at a ripe 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and The New York Times' A. O. Scott lavishes the film with praise. He writes So much care has been lavished on the conceit and [the film's] execution that you can only smile in admiration, even if you are also rolling your eyes a little."

Full Of Ambition & Packed With Wonder, 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' Will Open Tomorrow.

He elaborates: "At the moment, there are very few American filmmakers with the ability to articulate such an original, idiosyncratic vision and the means to express that vision so freely. There is a lot of integrity here and also a good deal of ambition."

Tried and true, sure, but we'll never get tired of the distinctive Wes Anderson formula: The Grand Budapest Hotel will be released on the 7th March.