Movie Review: Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are
Director: Spike Jonze
Rating: PG
Runtime: 101 Minutes

Unlike a lot of other people who have seen or plan on seeing this movie, I can't say that this was one of the books I grew up with. I didn't actually read it until about 2 years ago, when I was in a bookstore with a friend of mine and mentioned that I'd never read it. She sat me down with a copy of it, in the corner of the children's section, and made sure I read it cover to cover. No big deal, the story is less than 50 pages, and I liked it well enough.

The thing that kind of stood out to me, about the book, was that there's no real plot - or moral. Something most children's books usually have in spades. The book, as far as I can remember, is a short tale about a boy who acts up and it sent to bed without supper. In his room, alone, he imagines himself into the land of the Wild Things, and they make him their king. They play for a while, and then he goes back home.

That, in short, is pretty much the movie as well. They built a bit more into it, to give the viewer some background as to why Max acts up, and further dramatize the actual seen where it happens (he bites his mom, rather than threatens her, and then runs away into the night), but the base of the story remained the same.

In the wild kingdom, the creatures lives are set to somewhat mimic what Max was feeling in his own world (family falling apart, being lonely, needing attention, etc.). They ask Max to make them happy again, protect them all and make sure they always stay together. We're given the fact that one of the monsters, KW, has left the pack and made new friends, but the reasons behind all of that are not fully developed, so you kind of get what's going on, but not a whole lot of why it's going on... when we actually meet the new friends, it makes even less sense, but is fairly amusing, so I won't spoil that part.

In the end, there's a small battle that basically puts Max in his mother's shoes and brings the slight difference between book and film to the foreground - the moral of the story. Max, as vaguely as a kid might be able to grasp the idea, sees what it's like to deal with a wild child, while also having to handle his own kingdom. In the end, he decides to return home, leaving the monsters to themselves. It seems as though the monsters might have some hope of getting things together, but the mood at that point is also quite low, so it's not entirely reassuring.

Max goes home to his mom, where she hugs him, feeds him chocolate cake, and passes out while watching him eat.

Visually, the film was absolutely stunning. The sets, the characters, animation, animatronics, colors, everything - beautifully done. The acting was also great, it's just the story that was a bit light, but given the book, I suppose that's to be expected. Additionally, I have to say - this is so not a children's movie. I can't imagine any young child really comprehending a single point of this film. If they can be visually entranced, then I'm sure they'd love it, but if it's the kind of kid that needs to follow something, well... there's nothing really there for them to follow.

It's weird, I feel like I can't say I didn't like it - I did, for what it was. I just think they could have developed the plot a bit more and it would have been a great film.