Where The Wild Things Are
Directed by Spike Jonze
Written by Spike Jonze & David Eggers
Based on the book by Maurice Sendak
Starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo and as the voices of the Wild Things: James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper and Lauren Ambrose
Like the worst moments of childhood itself, Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are is a film about loneliness, fear and intimidation.
Based on the classic ten sentence book by Maurice Sendak, the film begins like a shotgun blast with Max chasing the family dog in a scene of absolute feral viciousness. Max's childhood is unhappy and often lonely; the friendless kid who lives within his imagination. He clings to his mother and sister, but sees them both slipping away from him as they seek their own companionship.
One evening, Max snaps, unleashing his rage, and he runs into the night. He sails to the world of the Wild Things, and for me, that's where the movie fell apart.
I desperately wanted to love this movie, and the opening sequences captured moments of childhood so uncannily accurate that it was unsettling. Once Max arrives Where The Wild Things Are, the film becomes a jumbled mess with the dysfunctional creatures own pettiness and neurosis pulling the focus away from Max.
The Wild Things are stunning to look at and it appears that the eyes of the actor voicing each creature have been digitally inserted into the performance. They truly are Sendak's work brought to life, but I don't know if that is enough to excuse the interpretation of the characters as dysfunctional malcontents.
The film lacks from any real plot (other than the initial ten sentences of the original book) or real characterization. The film is about emotion, but even that falters at times when the visceral response is defined by the pop soundtrack.
Where the Wild Things Are is an interesting experiment and worth seeing, but it is inappropriate for the children who are probably most eager to see the movie and alienates everyone else by being a depressing examination of heartache and abandonment.
5 comments:
That is exactly what I feared would happen.
Honestly, I knew that adapting the story would be difficult, as the story is largely just a poem, but adapting the message shouldn't have been.
Sounds like Jonze made himself a giant music video.
It seemed like a good fit. Get a director who comes from 3:25 music videos to do a movie based on a 10 sentence book.
Ultimately, I guess it was a Hail Mary pass.
Still reserving judgment for until I see it, but this initial reaction truly is a disappointment.
I honestly think this review is not very good. I saw the movie last night and got more than I expected. And knowing Mr. Sendak was a part of ALL of it made it that much better. Spike made this story so visceral and tangible that I nearly cried. Each Wild Thing has a precise character that you can read into, give a history, feel what they're feeling. This is great cinema asking questions of the audience the entire way through. We don't know how the Wild Things got to the emotional state they got to, but we know for sure that we've been there before and we know how WE got there. Max is right there in the middle of it all. He changes their perspective on the world, but in doing so puts the entire burden of their instability on his shoulders, which we can predict will have a disastrous effect later in the story. It's a sad, but important payoff.
I say kudos to Spike and especially Max Records for an incredible performance. This is the type of film you don't see hit the screen very often and I personally reveled in it. It doesn't leave you emotionally resolved at the end, but when were your emotions ever resolved when you were a child?
But you know that things can always get better, and in the end, Max's memory with the Wild Things is what likely will unite them in the future.
-G
I still want to see it, mostly for the look and style (I'm an Artist so I can't help that) - plus, I dated a man who voiced one of the Wild Things - but it seems that his work wasn't used and I want to see why.
if i had watched WTWTA as a child, i'm sure it would have given me nightmares; i don't understand how they could even imply that children might be interested in this movie
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