2009, Warner Brothers
Live action
Rating: PG
Approx. 101 mins.
THE STORY:
Max is a preteen whose world seems full of strife. At home, he deals with a dismissive older sister, an absent father and a mother who is dating. At school, he has just learned that the sun will die, but not before the earth and all humankind have disappeared. One day, his frustrations develop into the perfect storm, and he explodes by destroying his sister's room, biting his mother and screaming wildly before running out of the house.
Inexplicably, he jumps into a boat and sails away to an island populated by Wild Things (James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, etc.). When he convinces them that he has awesome powers, they install him as their king in the hope that he can repair all of the rips to their social fabric. Max and the creatures have wild fun and begin, literally and figuratively, to build a culture. But the personal politics and the fundamental illegitimacy of Max's rule undermine the positive that they have created and show Max that he has to go back home.
Inexplicably, he jumps into a boat and sails away to an island populated by Wild Things (James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, etc.). When he convinces them that he has awesome powers, they install him as their king in the hope that he can repair all of the rips to their social fabric. Max and the creatures have wild fun and begin, literally and figuratively, to build a culture. But the personal politics and the fundamental illegitimacy of Max's rule undermine the positive that they have created and show Max that he has to go back home.
QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:
- damn
- stupid
- kill
VIOLENCE:
- lots of threatening scenes and near misses
- one Wild Thing has his arm ripped off-- he suffers no pain and sand rather than blood gushes from the wound
TEACHING POINTS:
- Families are difficult, but we have to work on relationships
- Wild, irrational violence does not yield positive results
THE UPSHOT:
I fully expected to dislike this movie for 2 big reasons: 1) I have never really bought into the mystique of Sendak's book, and 2) seeing Where the Wild Things Are was something I had fought against as subtle-pointedly as I could. I had heard that this really was not an appropriate movie for young kids in that it was dark and frightening; but the 5 year-old in the room would not be deterred by my misgivings.
Yes, it is dark, and yes, it is frightening-- though not in the ways I had expected-- but no, I did not dislike it. That the 5 year-old in the room also liked it, however, boggles my mind.
This is a film fraught with tension: yelling, screaming, physical aggression, repeated threat of death or severe injury. Every time Max plays with the Wild Things he comes close to being crushed, pummeled, pushed off a cliff or impaled. And, when conflicts arise between Max and Carol (Gandolifini), the creature with whom he develops the closest relationship, there is the threat of being killed and/ or eaten.
It is also tense in the sense that it challenges notions of self and identification. It feels like the love child of Ingmar Bergman and (surprise...not) Sophia Coppola. I came away thinking that the wild things each represent an aspect of Max's emotional turmoil: his pessimism, his rash and violent side, the part of him that feels unheard, the attention seeker, the outcast/ exile, etc.
The script, the special effects, the acting, the adaptation, the soundtrack, the art direction are all fabulous. The way the movie manages to stay completely true to Sendak while adding an entirely original dimension to the story is inspiring, and gave me a deeper appreciation for the book.
The only negative would be that it is, in a lot of ways, not really a kids' movie. While the playful action scenes and interesting characters will likely entertain youngsters, the very young may find it scary as well as hard to follow. Whether you show it to your kids or not, treat yourself to a viewing.
4.5/5
Yes, it is dark, and yes, it is frightening-- though not in the ways I had expected-- but no, I did not dislike it. That the 5 year-old in the room also liked it, however, boggles my mind.
This is a film fraught with tension: yelling, screaming, physical aggression, repeated threat of death or severe injury. Every time Max plays with the Wild Things he comes close to being crushed, pummeled, pushed off a cliff or impaled. And, when conflicts arise between Max and Carol (Gandolifini), the creature with whom he develops the closest relationship, there is the threat of being killed and/ or eaten.
It is also tense in the sense that it challenges notions of self and identification. It feels like the love child of Ingmar Bergman and (surprise...not) Sophia Coppola. I came away thinking that the wild things each represent an aspect of Max's emotional turmoil: his pessimism, his rash and violent side, the part of him that feels unheard, the attention seeker, the outcast/ exile, etc.
The script, the special effects, the acting, the adaptation, the soundtrack, the art direction are all fabulous. The way the movie manages to stay completely true to Sendak while adding an entirely original dimension to the story is inspiring, and gave me a deeper appreciation for the book.
The only negative would be that it is, in a lot of ways, not really a kids' movie. While the playful action scenes and interesting characters will likely entertain youngsters, the very young may find it scary as well as hard to follow. Whether you show it to your kids or not, treat yourself to a viewing.
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