A lot has been written about Where The Wild Things Are. For instance, did you know that the film was actually shot in 2005 but has been shelved for years. In fact, Warner Bros. were so dissatisfied with the final print that they thought about tossing away the $75 million film and re-shooting.
Stories like these never end up faring well with the end product.
However, Where The Wild Things Are had plenty going for it. First and foremost, it is based on a beloved children’s story by Maurice Sendak. Second, it was directed by Spike Jonze who directed two masterpieces with Being John Malkovich and Adaptation.
Now, before I go any further, I should add that I have read the source material. Granted that was when I was much much much younger than I am now. I didn’t do my due diligence research to make sure I was current in my comparisons.
But, I also believe that not reading the illustrated book again was in my favour. As each scene rolled out, I had a constant “Oh, yeah” expression on my face as it brought back memories of hiding under the bed sheets with a flashlight reading the book as a child.
Where The Wild Things Are remains faithful (again, as far as I can remember) to the story about a boy (Max, played wonderfully by Max Records) who is sent to his room without dinner after being a bit of a git. To say that Max has a vivid imagination is like saying Bill Gates is rich, and Max soon transports himself to a forest which is populated with Wild Things. Max becomes King of this imaginary world, but soon finds that King comes with responsibilities and troubles that send Max and his new found friends on an adventure that is sometimes fun, sometimes a bit frightening and hit and miss on the entertainment dial.
WTWTA (I’m getting lazy) is everything the trailers reveal it to be, which to me, ends up being a disappointment. There were long moments during the brisk 101 minute running time that I was bored to a point of wanting to shut my eyes. There just wasn’t much going on. At all. And then there were the puppet Wild Things which were created by the Jim Henson Company. Sure, they were good. I suppose. But I couldn’t get over the whole Muppets, Fraggle Rock look about them. And voices James Gandolfini and Forest Whitaker were more a distraction as I couldn’t see them in the character or the character speaking like them.
Normally, all of this wouldn’t be a problem. Normally, I would write that this movie was not meant for adults so just take the kids and if they like it then it is review proof. But WTWTA (still lazy), though is trying to cater itself to all ages and genders. You can tell that Jonze is trying to make an adult children’s film and the marketing is definitely attempting to have my age group harken back to the flashlight under the bed sheet days.
And on that level, it just misses the mark. Max wants to ‘Let the wild rumpus start’, but I just thought it tame. Tame and boring.
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