Movie Review : Where The Wild Things Are

"LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!!!" - Max


Every once in a generation a film comes along that changes everything. Sometimes the change is sudden, other times it'll take years before it's appreciated for the gem that it is and given the credit it deserves. Where The Wild Things Are will be a bit of both, I think, and it has definitely made an undeniable impact on me.

Based on the 1963 children's book written by Maurice Sendak, Where The Wild Things Are tells a story about a boy named Max who is sent up to his room without supper because he was misbehaving. Or as the book calls it, "making mischief". There, Max creates a world of his own and befriends a gang of vicious looking creatures. The book is mostly just pictures, and the actual story is only 10 sentences long.

To be honest, I never really liked the book as a kid. It scared me. It confused me. And I didn't "get" it. Why the hell was this kid playing with monsters?! They were big, and there were many. They were freaky looking things and this little kid - who could have been ME - sang and danced and howled with them! That is something that always confused me, as I was of the thinking variety that kids (or at least ME, anyway) are NOT supposed to play with monsters. We're not supposed to play with dangerous and gigantic mean looking things! Wild things! What the hell was this kid doing? Did he not worry that at any time these creatures could eat him up?! Even as I grew up and matured, I still never cared for the book. I didn't understand the story, whatever story there was to understand in just 10 simple sentences.

Fast forward to present day - Friday, October 16, 2009 - and I couldn't be anymore in love with this story as I am now.

One may ask, How can they make a movie based off 10 sentences of a children's book? Well, it isn't any different throwing a pitch to a studio, now is it? Pitching your story or movie would be about 10 sentences, maybe even less. The way I see it, the 1963 book IS the pitch for this movie, and everything else is what director Spike Jonze and writer Dave Eggers came up with themselves. Not to mention Maurice Sendak was involved with the creative process every step of the way. What Spike and Dave have done is create another world unlike anything I have ever felt in my entire life watching movies. And that's the gift they've given to us; a world we feel, and not just google over because of its strong visuals.

This is a coming of age story, but don't mistaken its visuals and funny looking characters as anything other than what this film is, which is a DRAMA. Yes, it's funny, and violent, and sometimes scary, but it's a drama first and foremost and because of that, none of it's seriousness or art direction is ever compromised.

In the film, Max runs away from home and sails to a far away island inhabited by the Wild Things. Once there, the creatures make him their King, and through them, Max learns that the world he's created is just as complicated and messed up as the world he lives in back home.


"FEED ME WOMAN!!! I'll EAT YOU UP!!!" - Max


Max is played flawlessly by newcomer Max Records. He plays one of the most realistic 9 year old's I have ever seen on the big-screen. This wasn't acting, this was something else. He's funny, and charming, and playful, and adventurous, and a great storyteller. He is also very agitated and ignored. Not taken seriously. And always left alone. He is a child in a grown up world, where his mother shares her love with her boyfriend, and his sister cares more about boys than playing in Max's snow fort. Max is violent, too. He lashes out, as I'm sure we've all seen kids do. I've done it a million times as a kid; scream and stomp my feet and talk back to my mom. In many ways, I'm still very much that way. Stubborn and hardheaded. And boy, when Max puts on his wolf costume, all bets are off.

James Gandolfini voices Carol, the lead Wild Thing, and he couldn't have done a better job. The dynamic between the Wild Things and Max isn't always simple, and unlike most films of this type, it isn't as plainly spelled out for you. I couldn't help but feel a riddle of emotions ranging from fear, to anger, to joy, to sadness all throughout the film. The themes Max deals with are so pure and real. They're exactly what the tag line says , "There's one in all of us........", it's also a clear indicator that it's referring to not only the Wild Things, but the child, as well. Children carry just as much emotional baggage as adults do, and I am forever thankful this film addresses that instead of trying to sugarcoat everything with fancy CGI and stupid Pop Culture jokes.

Now, I can go on and on about how terrific the voice acting is or how beautiful the Wild Things looked, but I won't. This film is all about Max, because without Max, these Wild Things don't exist. The creatures are all fragments of Max's emotional and psychological state. They're dangerous, and bossy. Strong, and mischievous. Sad, and lonely. Confused, and conflicted. And they love to play and smash things! But Max ran away from home to run away from his mounting problems with his family, and instead of escaping that world, he unknowingly brings it with him. Once he gets settled in, Max throws all his worries away because he is now the King of this new world, and he has all these awesome "powers". All the games he plays and creates with the Wild Things are nothing short of a distraction. What's really going on beneath the surface is pain. He soon realizes that no matter who you pretend to be, you can't run away from your problems. Your feelings will eventually catch up with you. How the Wild Things are written is pure genius because even though each Wild Thing represents Max's inner workings, every scene and conflict that arises between all the characters could be interpreted many different ways. Even though Carol seemed to be a direct representation of Max, I couldn't help but feel that perhaps he was also his missing father-figure, as well. All the monsters seemed to be interchangable between Max's emotions and people from his past.

If you didn't know, this film was in some deep water with the studio because they wanted Spike Jonze to add more "pixie dust" to his movie. Spike didn't want to go that route -- and neither did Maurice Sendak. Before long, it became a complicated process between the studio and Spike Jonze over artistic differences. In the end, after 2 years and additional scenes were filmed, Spike was able to make the film he set out to make. All I can say to that is THANK GOD Spike was able to pull it off. THANK GOD the studio didn't make this film into another tired, redundant, and stupid kiddie fest.


"TO MAX, OWNER OF THIS WORLD. LOVE, DAD".


You see, we have great films for people of all ages such as Wall-E, The Incredibles, Shrek, Up............but none of them are important. They're all fluff. Yes, they look nice. Yes, they have good stories and emote lots of feelings. But they all play it SAFE. They all follow the same formula over and over again : Story, Action, Jokes. Story, Action, Jokes. Story, Action, Jokes. And we can't forget mixing in a fare share of Pop Culture references. Where The Wild Things Are will prove to be as TIMELESS as The Wizard of OZ because it breaks the mold and dares to be different. It dares to take that big giant leap forwards and treat kids with serious emotional delicacy. Nothing in this film feels dated. The humor is born from the character's personalities and their predicaments, not cheap Pop Culture jokes. NEVER does this film EVER treat kids like idiots, like the majority of kids movies. In fact, by the end of the film, you get the sense that Max is probably just as much an adult as his mother is. This film is BRAVE, and deals with the troubled world inside a child's mind head on. Face to face. Shoulder to shoulder. This film is IMPORTANT and quite a learning experiment for anyone wondering why we feel what we feel, even as adults.

Disney and Pixar should be kicking themselves in the nuts right now. It seems the best work they do if based on how better they can make everything look. The stories are always the same. I could only imagine the crap fest this film would have been if the studio got their way. We would have ended up with another Narnia - and although the first Narnia is great and all, the very real and heavy material from the book is lost within the bubblegum pop of the film. Where The Wild Things Are is based off a 10 sentence book, and yet it managed to produce more heart and a much deeper message than any children's book hundreds of pages long. Why is that? Because Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers, and Maurice Sendak set out to create something real, dangerous, and innovative. They took a risk, made a choice, and stuck with that choice from beginning to end. Spike Jonze has said himself that this isn't a film for 9 year olds, but a film about BEING 9 years old.

It's mopey. It's sad. It's depressing. It's funny. It's exciting. It's marvelous. It's everything bad and good rolled up into one. It's everything straight forward and black and white inside a child's mind. It's everything conflicted and gray inside a child's mind. It's unsure, then confident. It's cautious, then fearless. It's a roller coaster ride of emotions and thoughts. Many, many emotions and thoughts. The very last scene with Carol and Max made me cry. I tried so hard to keep it in, but if I did, I would've done more harm than good. And the very last scene of the film is genius : Max is stuffing his face with soup and cake while his mom watches him, peacefully. He stops and stares back. She smiles and closes her eyes, falling asleep. Max continues to stare........his eyes saying everything it needs to be saying. There's nothing happening, and yet EVERYTHING is happening. There is forgiveness and a quiet undertsanding between the two of them. Max is left a changed boy, and I too am left a changed man.

When the movie ended, it was like The Dark Knight all over again. Satisfying, yet bitter sweet. Only this was for different reasons. Nobody moved. Everyone just sat there speechless as the track "Food is Still Hot" from the film's soundtrack played out. An elderly man beside me wiped his glasses, as they were covered in tears. The people behind me gave a silent "wow....". It took me a few seconds to catch my breath. This film knocked the wind right out of me, and then kicked me while I was down.

Where The Wild Things Are has left my eyes, ears, and heart wide open. This film is a staggering achievement in storytelling and film making. It boldly goes where other kids films dare not go, and it never apologizes for it. To quote Harry Knowles, "This is a children’s film, like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a kids film. And TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a great kids movie". For anyone not affected by this film, you're clearly from another planet. My greatest fear is that we won't ever see a film like this again. A modern-day masterpiece that will stand the test of time.

5/5


"DON'T GO. I'LL EAT YOU UP, I LOVE YOU SO" - K.W.