Where the Wild Things Are

Although Where the Wild Things Are is a few grades above my reading level, I was able to enjoy the movie. This seemed a helluvalot darker than what I remember but not being 5 years old (physically I can’t promise mentally) it was an improvement over the source material.

The selling point for Where the Wild Things Are was Spike Jonze translation to film. The world that the wild things inhabit feels like something that a child would imagine. There is a dreamlike quality to everything, the forest, the desert, the fort; everything is just a bit off. That is not even taking into account the look of the monsters. The mixture of guys in suits and CGI delivered monsters that worked on screen. This was key since there was only 1 actor through the majority of the movie and if the monsters seemed fake the whole thing would have fallen apart.

How long did they look until they found an actor with the name Max to play the character Max? There can't be that many kids named Max running around Hollywood nowadays. He did as well as can be expected when a first time child actor is carrying the entire film. Although there were a bunch of monsters the one voice that came through the clearest was James Gandolfini. Maybe one day I will hear that voice and not picture Tony Soprano but that day is not here. The whole time he was speaking I was begging for the kid to run away because he was in danger. Then there was the scene were Carol is talking in his sleep and it was terrifying because Tony Soprano would do those things he was mumbling in the dark.

Where the Wild Things Are may not be the best movie of the year but it definitely felt original. Spike Jonze may not work often but when he sits down to work he delivers something new every time.

8 out of 10