Movie Review: Where the Wild Things Are

In modern cinema, we are often faced with the same cliche family movies featuring moralistic outcomes and naive children, willing to face trouble but not consequences (thanks a lot, "Home Alone"). It's often dumbed down to appeal to children, but not their parents, which is secretly it's death mark. Sure, we are faced occasionally with trans-generational family movies by Pixar, but other than that, what do we have?

It's thoughts like these director Spike Jonze faced when approaching Maurice Sendak's 1962 book, "Where the Wild Things Are". He didn't want to make it a cute re-imagining, but hold some truth to the book while creating a world of awe through the eyes of a nine year old.
Thank God that nine year old is Max, played by Max Records. Max is a kid with a sense of adventure and imagination, creating igloos and wrestling dogs with the most innocent of glee. It's not until Max flips on his mother (Catherine Keener) that he runs away and somehow ends up on the island where the Wild Things live.
Spike Jonze has been reported of putting blood, sweat, and tears into this movie in hopes to make it just right. He didn't want the Wild Things to appear scary or even the surroundings.
What he does come up with is an awe-inspiring landscape that should win it a scenery Oscar. From forests to deserts, the world seems to be vast and creates curiosity. It you're not careful, you can easily get lost in the admiration for the background, which even at it's simple best, manages to set the vibe for the characters, whether it's empty or chaotic.
With a camp-fire-style soundtrack provided by Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and the Kids, it's primitive feel definitely fits Jonze's nine year old feel. But it's not until Max takes over as king that we realize that this is not just any nine year old.
Working alongside six foot tall puppets (voiced by people such as James Gandolfini and Forest Whitaker), Max manages to capture the naivety and mirror the audience as he is forced to face issues that are often more than skin deep. His ability to draw you in makes him one of the most promising child actors to appear in awhile.
There is definitely some dark elements in this movie, but overall it works to the film's atmosphere and almost works as meditation for Max's family issues. While the ending will leave many confused, it's subtle ending marks one of the few achievements in children's movies where we're not quite sure what's going to happen, but feel like we've reached a conclusion.
I am with majority of people who claim this isn't really a children's movie besides premesis, but that's thinking from a 20 year old's perspective. This movie definitely has a lot of adventure and fun that shall keep you entertained. It also features complexity that rings true to modern families that the younger crowd won't notice. But overall, it's difference in approach helps it to stand out and make it both a visual and mental thrill ride that releases both inner children and inner art critics.
Spike Jonze has done a wonder job with this adaptation and Max Records is sure to have promising roles to come. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but there is plenty of awe that should be seen to be believed.
Rating: 3 out of 5

Comments

  1. it's interesting how polarizing this movie is, some people say WTWTA is the best movie of the year while others say it's the worst; i tend to lean toward the latter opinion just because it didn't really have a plot

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