Just as many of us are, I am a fan of the book, written by Maurice Sendak , “Where the Wild Things Are”. At one point or another we have all come across this book in, one way or another, and all took it in different ways. For me it was one of the first storybooks that I read on my own, marking a small “milestone” my life. With the recent release of the movie, pretty much every adult and child went to see it.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, I watched the trailer about six months before. I knew the soundtrack was going to amazing (being a fan of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs a.k.a Karen O) I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed with that aspect of it. I knew the visuals were going to be great as well; the trailer gave me chills the first time (and that barely ever happens to me).
As the lights went down and the preview started rolling, I was at the edge of my seat to see the opening scene. But of course after 10 minutes of previews I forgot what movie I was seeing in the first place, but of course once they ended I quickly recalled why I was there.
Now this is not to turn people off from seeing this movie, but it’s not like the book! Which makes sense seeing how the book was about 15 pages and 10 sentences long. Another thing, this movie is not really for kids, it deals with mature themes and ideas.
If I were a 10 year old, I wouldn’t find myself sitting through this movie quietly.
I found the first 15 minutes a bit confusing, and very depressing when the teacher started to talk about the sun blowing up. That is actually how I felt about the whole movie. It had this very sad and dark feel to it, as if the sun was going to blow up, and every moment was the last. Until at the end when Max is back home safe that you feel like there is hope in the end. The monsters were pretty impressive, but once again it was confusing to figure out at first what they were talking about or doing. It was clear that they all represented some sort of human characteristics. Carol was clearly representing Max, with his naïve and child like tendencies. He also showed the fear of change and being left alone. Just like Max, Carol felt his family was falling apart and leaving him to be alone. He also didn’t like the idea of new people coming into the family. Just like Max he acted out in a violent and irrational way. But in the end the movie ties it all part to loving each other and learning to understand each other.
Overall I liked the message the movie was trying to send, and yeah it might have been a bit “indie” for some people’s taste but I sure enjoyed it, and would go see it again. I would give it 3 ½ winks out of 5. ; D
