Where The Wild Things Are- Movie Review

Review: Where The Wild Things Are

by xmisspreternaturalx

“Where The Wild Things Are” is the type of movie that has enjoyed so much acclaim and hype since the first trailer was released that it’s hard to imagine the movie could live up to the excitement. With a list of names behind this movie that could make the most jaded hipster want to dance in his thrift store boots, the movie could have been the type to suffer from its star power and from the fact that it is an adaptation of what is a classic children’s book for many people. Thankfully, it doesn’t. This is the type of film where once it starts, everything takes a backseat to the quiet exploration of the power that our imaginations hold and the potency of being a child.

The plot is both simple and dreamy in the way that only a kid’s story can be, as lovers of the book can attest. In the story by Maurice Sendak, Max dons his white wolf costume and runs around the house making mischief, causing his mother to send him to bed without any supper. While he’s in his room, Max dreams up an ocean that he begins to sail and finds the island where the Wild Things live. He becomes their king by showing no fear to the monsters he encounters, and soon all of them are engaged in the “rumpus”, dancing and causing mayhem. After a while, Max becomes homesick and sails back home to find his supper on the table and still warm. In the movie, instead of being banished to his room, Max runs away and finds the boat moored. Director Spike Jonze’s vision of Max is a lovely portrait of a kid who feels out of place but possesses a certain spark that can’t be ignored. Max could have easily been a heavy-handed depiction of the clichés of modern childhood- upset about his single mother dating and no dad in the picture, a teenage sister who cares more about her friends than him, and a general sense of being the type of child who is inches away from a prescription of behavioral meds. Yet, through the genuine and almost brutally honest writing, Max is shown as a child desperately trying to find a place where he fits in and is shown the love and attention he craves. It’s the sort of thing that a person of any age can relate to, but it especially recalls the lonely times of childhood, when we equated constant attention with love and imagination was always richer than reality. The honesty is shown in believable action, like Max’s furious wrecking of a craft he made for his sister when her friends wreck his snow cave and she does nothing (along with the subsequent tears afterwards). This realism can’t go without a nod to the boy who plays Max, aptly named Max Records. It’s difficult sometimes to remember that Records is acting, because the subtlety of his facial expressions and tone of voice seem impossible for someone his age to be acting instead of living the story. There’s a solemn sense of wonder in the way he approaches playing Max that fits excellently with that same quality in the writing.

This sense of wonder that is at once playful and pensive is only helped along by cinematography and visuals which can be described as nothing less than incredible. This movie could, and should, set a new standard for every dreamy indie flick that wants the viewer to be swept up in the beauty of a moment onscreen. The views of the sea Max sails across will take your breath away, along with the island where the Wild Things live, the would-be Utopia they attempt to build, and the Wild Things themselves. It’s easy to forget they aren’t real, such is the dedication of the special effects team to making the Wild Things seem more than alive, close enough to human in their gestures and manners that their physical appearance is secondary. Going by names that are both ridiculous and yet strangely appropriate (the one who names Max king is a male Wild Thing called Carol), the Wild Things all possess personalities that are distinct and never too wholesome. Several times throughout the movie you are reminded that these are, essentially, tamer monsters. There are moments when the physical play of the Wild Things becomes too intense and you become frightened for Max’s safety, but even more unsettling is the way Carol’s frustration and high expectations of people play out when things don’t end up as planned. This, along with a deep distrust which borders on violent that Judith, another Wild Thing, displays often on the island seem to be almost reflections of Max himself, of the sides of him that he must shed to become the strong adult the story shows us he could be. These displays remind us that as fantastic as Max’s adventure is, it’s inherently a personal story and a journey through a childhood into the hard choices. This is bolstered by the whimsical, wistful soundtrack by Karen O and the Kids, a band formed for the soundtrack composed of Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, members of the Liars, Deerhunter, the Raconteurs and a chorus of children’s’ voices. It’s beautiful indie pop/folk that could be enjoyed entirely separate of the movie; my immediate move once I sat down to the computer after coming home from the movie was to download two of my favorite tracks. Thankfully, the indie influence of the soundtrack does nothing to detract from what you’re seeing onscreen, only add to the sense of adventure.

The negatives of this movie are few, but those that do exist color too much of the movie to brush away. The time Max spends with the Wild Things ends up feeling a bit too short, his departure almost too abrupt. Had he spent just a little more time getting to know the island and its inhabitants, the already emotional scene where he says his goodbyes and sails back home could have had the entire theater in tears, rather than just left feeling sad. His interactions with the Wild Things, while on the whole approached very well, could be played up in some parts and wound down in others. There’s a cathartic sense of wildness in Max’s play with the Wild Things, and it’s so infectious that children and adults were laughing with delight during these scenes, and these should have been stretched out. While the more quiet scenes are presented with proper sense of weight, they sometimes move too slowly, which can be a serious negative in a movie targeted primarily for children. The most disappointing aspect of the movie is the ending that seems both rushed and unfinished. Though under Spike Jonze’s direction both Max Records and Catherine Keener (Story-Max’s mom) act the scene to its best potential and deserve much credit for that, the scene still has a strong sense of missing something. I’m typically a person who loves ambiguous endings and tends to feel exasperated when people complain about “not getting it”. Sometimes you’re not supposed to get it, but here it feels like the story’s not quite done. There’s no explanation as to where exactly Max was or if he was really gone as long as it seems. In a children’s book, where the fantastic reigns, this is not an important factor, but in a movie that is otherwise doused in emotional realism behind the mythical adventure it becomes a serious distraction. When discussing this with a friend after the movie, I thought more about how maybe that explanation doesn’t really matter.

This is a movie for children that adults can enjoy on levels they don’t get to experience with most children’s movies, but it is still for kids. Maybe kids don’t need that explanation, because the situation is not what’s important, it’s the connection they can make to it. This is a movie that works on both the personal and visceral levels. It’s the type of film that grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go, that brings back the best and worst of childhood in a bittersweet blend that can be so real and raw at times that it hurts. It doesn’t matter that the movie is rated PG, that the typical tropes of a movie about childhood innocence and growing up are mostly absent; it feels true on a deep level. The emotional resonance “Where The Wild Things Are” possesses shows us that adventure has to be experienced on a personal level, and that we never really leave our senses of wonder behind.

Grade: A-

Photo courtesy movies.ign.com