Movie Review: “Where the Wild Things Are”
Franck Tabouring
Seen on: October 16, 2009
The players: Director: Spike Jonze, Writers: Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers, Cast: Max Records, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, Lauren Ambrose, James Gandolfini
Facts of interest: Based on the book by Maurice Sendak.
The plot: The film follows a young boy who imagines he's traveling to a big island inhabited by wild creatures.
Our thoughts: Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is a fantastic big-screen adventure I absolutely adored even though I never read Maurice Sendak’s beloved book. It’s a film that worked for me for so many reasons, starting with its simple, yet quite meaningful examination of the many complications of childhood.
The central character in the movie is Max (Max Records), a lonely young boy who feels he doesn’t get enough attention from his older sister and busy mother and decides to escape from all his troubles at home by traveling to a world entirely created in his wild imagination.
His vivid mind takes Max to a large island, where he encounters a group of strange, sad creatures desperately looking for someone with the ability to guide them to happiness. Luckily for them, the arrival of Max triggers new hope among these creatures, and before he knows it, they officially crown him as their new king.
Bringing happiness to a bunch of wild things with strong emotions involves a great deal of responsibility and is not exactly an easy task for a 9-year-old kid, so as the story of “Where the Wild Things” progresses, Max slowly learns that even in his imagination, things don’t always go the way you expect.
Dealing with the power of friendship and the importance of family, the film draws a wonderful portrait of a young kid who realizes that escaping into an imagined world is certainly not the ideal solution to deal with problems at home. In other words, it’s a simple story brought to the big screen in a unique way.
Indeed, Spike Jonze’s vision worked for me from start to finish, and the movie pulled me into a world I felt very comfortable in. From intriguing storytelling to superb production values, this is truly a magical tale that has the stunning ability to make cinemagoers stare at the big screen with much admiration.
From a dynamic direction and a fast pace to a beautiful photography, excellent visual effects and compelling costume design, “Wild Things” boasts all the qualities of a cinematic masterpiece. Add a fantastic soundtrack, emotional characters and excellent performances, and there’s really nothing to complain about in this film.
The search for Max was apparently a long one, but now that I’ve seen the film, I just can’t imagine any other kid than Max Records in the role. He completely dominates his interesting character and makes all of his scenes work, showing incredible acting maturity at the young age of 12.
Freaky quote: "Now you are king and you will be a truly great king." – James Gandolfini
The final word: Jonze’s hand-held camera approach and his decision to stay really close to Max and his creature pals may not impress every fan of the book, but his style completely worked in my book. Get wild and go see the film this weekend; it’s undoubtedly the best of the new releases. Wahoooooooo!.
Article by Franck Tabouring
Reader Comments (5)
This was a truly terrible review. Thanks.
You are more than welcome. Let's read yours.
Great review! I couldnt have said it better myself. I heard a few say it "sucked" why the hell would they say that? There should be NO reason to say that. The story is about childhood. Every one was a child once, and no doubt they have felt the same way Max did (including the "wild things") Everybody has been in Max's shoes. Everyone has felt, lonely, upset, unloved, uncared for, abandoned, angry, belittled. If nobody has felt that way at any time in their life, they're obviously not human.
Sorry for my freakishly long response. Lol I hope I don't sound like a douche for going on about this movie like it is an obsession. I just really loved the movie. It truly captures the essence of the hardships of childhood. It's not just some 9-year old kid playing with monsters. Spike really elaborated the theme Maurice Sendak's book giving it a more profound understanding. (The movie kind of reminds me of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys (Wendy as Max). The lost boys only want someone to love them and protect them and make them happy. But Wendy cannot do that for the same reason Max could not.
OMG so sorry AGAIN! I just keep going on, don't I? LOL
I sweat I'm done now.
Your review was terrific, like it came out of my own mouth!
Thanks!
-Arielle
There may be something about this movie that I "didn't get", but I just had to walk out about half way through... it flat-lined after about 10 minutes and didn't recover after that
Reply to Samantha K:
Only ten minutes? The plot has barely started and you already gave up? Of course you wouldn't "get it".