johnlink ranks WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (2009)
I read this book as a child, but it’s not an all time favorite for me like it is for many. I’m intrigued by a movie that is a children’s film about made-up (presumably) monsters directed by BEING JOHN MALKOVICH creator Spike Jonze. Sounds like a perfect culmination of imagination!
I watched WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (2009) on 10.1.10. It was my first viewing of the film. TRAILER HERE
Many kids movies are all fun and little substance. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is nearly the opposite. Barely a kids movie, this film has moments of great weight (child anger issues) mixed with small bouts of intense fun (like the sand-ball fight).
The monsters of this film are all portions of lead character Max’s psyche. They represent his anger, his compassion, his self-absorption, his feeling of being unimportant, etc. In that way, the film is brilliantly written to be a sort of psycho-analysis of a normal kid with normal family issues.
This picture is beautifully shot, with the world of the wild things feeling both familiar and alien at the same time. Shaky camera syndrome may seem out of place in a ‘kids’ movie, but it is apparent fairly quickly that this is no ordinary ‘kids’ movie.
I do wish there was a little more fun to be had at times. Much of the imagination of this film is heavily weighted, and often the imagination leads to bad results. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned there, but its not one I want to learn!
SCORES
FILM: 8; MOVIE: 5; ACTING: 6; WRITING: 7
8+5+6+7+0=26
FINAL SCORE: 6.5
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