Where the Wild Things Are

Review By: Ryan Hamelin
RyanHamelin@TheCinemaSource.com

Movie Grade: A

There are very few directors in the world who could have adapted Maurice Sendak’s best selling children’s book. We’re talking about a story which barely stretches into a double-digit page count and relies almost entirely on the young imagination to fill in the gaps in logic and narrative storytelling. Luckily, Spike Jonze is highly qualified for the job. You might not get that feeling simply by viewing his past feature works, Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, but take a quick glance at his ample music video portfolio on YouTube, and you’ll start to understand the kind of vision at play. Because Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is not a book which you could ever actually adapt into a movie. What you’re going to see on screen is Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, and while he is more than faithful to “the spirit” of the text, whatever industry people would expect you to think that phrase means, it is entirely his own creation, and most of the brilliance and honesty which pours out of every scene can be directly traced back to him.

“Honest” is probably the best word I can think of when trying to explain the experience that is seeing this film. There are no frills here, no barriers between the emotional impact of the world and the hearts of the audience. The truth in every line, every expression, humans and creatures alike, is almost frightening. You can see yourself in Max, even when he’s simply sitting cross-legged in a pile of leaves wearing his grey wolf costume. You were this child at some point, and the knowledge that you’ve crossed the threshold to the other side is both illuminating and depressing. For some, the depression may end up being a little overpowering. For the rest, the wonderment that bookends each chapter will be a retreat you’re your inner kid, you know, the one you’ve been starving for however many years. Your childhood may be gone, but you will live vicariously through this boy for 2 hours, and it is a feeling you won’t soon forget.

That brings up another note that should be printed in bold letters for parents everywhere. THIS IS NOT A KIDS MOVIE. This is an adult film about the reality of the young mind and the places we go in our dreams and fantasies, the worlds we used to frequent when we weren’t tied down to the troubles we have now. The film does get very dark on occasion, too dark for young members of the audience to truly understand it. Max himself doesn’t understand the nature of the consequences his actions have on others, and his maturity is one of the most powerful arcs of the film. I would argue that the source itself is very ambiguous on the nature of its moral dilemma. I can remember being alternately entertained and troubled when reading the book, scared by the ...