Where the Wild Things Are (Warner Bros.)
Rated PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.
Starring Max Records, Pepita Emmerichs, Catherine Keener, Steve Mouzakis, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini (voice), Paul Dano (voice), Catherine O'Hara (voice), Forest Whitaker, (voice), Michael Berry Jr. (voice), Chris Cooper (voice), Lauren Ambrose (voice).
Written by Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers and Maurice Sendak (book).
Directed by Spike Jonze.
GRADE: B+
REVIEWSome memories from my childhood cannot be reproduced. They're fuzzy recollections, void of too many details, except for remembrance of the way I felt while experiencing them. I remember reading Maurice Sendak's
Where the Wild Things Are countless times, and the comfort I felt knowing that no matter how badly I behaved, my parents would still love me and there would always be hot meal waiting. Being one of the most popular kids' book if all time, it was only a matter of time before
Wild Things would make it to the big screen. Here it is, only I'm still wondering if the film's creators shouldn't have left well-enough alone.
Max Records (his real name) stars as Max, a hyperactive boy with a vivid imagination and a penchant for taking out revenge upon those who've wronged him. When he acts up one night, his mother tries to discipline Max, but unlike the book, he runs away rather than being sent to his room.
Max hides out in a nearby park, where he finds a boat and sails away to the land of monsters where Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini), Judith (Catherine O'Hara), Alexander (Paul Dano), Ira (Forest Whitaker), Douglas (Chris Cooper), KW (Lauren Ambrose), and The Bull (Michael Berry Jr.) live.
Max convinces the monsters that he is a king and soon takes over leadership of the gang, which suffers from the effects of political infighting and other personality conflicts. All of the individual monsters have unique childish character flaws, like the sarcastic Judith, the loyal Douglas, the ignored Alexander, and the fearsome Carol, who has trouble with his feelings for KW and her penchant for making new friends.
The group proceeds to build an odd-looking fort to play in, but things turn ugly when the monsters learn Max really isn't a king, and he decides to return home to his mother.
Where the Wild Things Are as a movie is well-made. I have no real complaints with the way director Spike Jonze (whose real name is Adam Spiegel) uses his own imagination to build a film version of the beloved children's tale. It's everything I'd hoped it would be and more from Jonze, albeit not an exact representation of my childhood book version.
The movie departs from some of the simple truths I learned as a child and expands upon them dramatically, including having the individual monsters exhibit common childhood emotions one must overcome in order to pass into adulthood, including fear, jealousy, and aggression. For this and other reasons, I cannot recommend
Where the Wild Things Are to small children. These are deep, complex realities that may be a little abstract for 5-year-olds.
Some creepy Spike Jonze-isms are also a little beyond a child's capability to understand, aside from the big monsters on a big screen making big noises that are way too scary for little kids. I'm also concerned that the world in
Where the Wild Things Are reaches a little too far into Spike's imagination rather than your basic everyday kid. Case in point: The fort Max commissions ends up looking more like a Picasso sculpture than a kid's play place; like something you'd see in
Being John Malkovich instead of the childish whimsy of Sendak's book.
Still, I can't feel bad about
Where the Wild Things Are as a movie, because it is a visual treat with a lot to say about how people (or imaginary monsters) deal with the complexity of facing fears and learning to control emotions.
The computer-generated monsters (made possible in conjunction with Jim Henson's Creature Shop) are perfect characterizations, able to convey the afore-mentioned complex emotions. In many ways, it's a good thing it took so long for
Where the Wild Things Are to be made into a movie. The contemporary special effects in
Where the Wild Things Are are so good, I barely noticed them. The voices are well cast too, with Gandolfini, Whitaker, O'Hara and Ambrose conveying the perfect characterizations.
Even so, be warned.
Where the Wild Things Are might be too scary for little kids and too deep for older ones. It would seem as though Spike Jonze intended to make a movie for the kids that live inside the grown-ups who loved the book when they were younger. Aside from taking a little too much creative license, I would say Jonze succeeded.
