Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Directed by: Spike Jonze
Written by: Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers and Maurice Sendak (book)
Released by: Warner Bros. Home Video
When I was a kid there were a handful of books which I remember being very fond of. Since I was such a fan of monsters and horror growing up, I of course naturally gravitated to a wonderfully illustrated book in my elementary school library titled ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by author Maurice Sendak. The book tells the tale of a young boy named Max, who through the use of his imagination, sails to the land where the wild things are...a group of fearsome looking creatures who make Max their "king". By the time I discovered this little gem back in 1985, it had already been out for over 22 years...and now, some 25 years after I discovered it, the book is just as popular as ever, having sold more than 19 million copies worldwide.
From what I understand a feature length film had been in the works ever since the early 1980's. At first it was intended to be an animated Walt Disney feature which ultimately fell through...then in 2001 Universal Studios acquired the rights and decided on a live action feature which also fell through. Then sometime in the mid 2000's Warner Brothers picked up the rights from Universal and were in the pre-production stages for many years, with the film finally hitting theatres last year, in October of 2009. Finally fans of all ages, who grew up on this wildly popular piece of literary work, would get the chance to see it's pages come to life on the big screen for the first time ever.
As stated before, the film is based around a young, adventurous, 9-year-old boy named Max, who after getting into an argument with his mother, runs away from home and sets sail across the open sea to the land where the wild things are. Once there he befriends a gigantic fuzzy monster named Carol and convinces the other monstrous inhabitants that he is a magical king from a faraway land. The naive monsters quickly buy into his ridiculous story and proclaim Max to be their new official king and ruler. As their king, Max does his best to try and please everyone, but eventually finds out that the position is not as carefree as he originally thought it would be.
Even though this is intended to be a movie suitable for young children, it fits more into the type of dark and often depressing nature of films like 'The Neverending Story' then it does most lighthearted kid's films of this era. The movie itself deals with some pretty deep issues that kids will often face during childhood...issues such as growing up without a father, loneliness, feeling like an outcast, the importance of family and being tolerant of those who are different than you. Overall I found the movie to be very intelligent and honest and one that doesn't treat its younger audience as if they were a bunch of morons like a lot of films and film-makers often do.
Since most of the film involves a young child interacting with a group of monsters, the design of the creatures could easily make or break this movie. Luckily the brilliant people at Jim Henson's Creature Shop do an incredible job with the use of practical effects and animatronics rather than the typical Hollywood CGI route. Overall I thought it was a perfect fit for the film, giving off a sense of realism not seen since the 1980's with features such as 'The Dark Crystal' and 'Labyrinth'...films in which the Jim Henson group were also a part of. The voice actors were also very well cast, although I did have somewhat of a problem with the casting of James Gandolfini as the main monster "Carol". Gandolfini does very little to change his voice and you can't help but to think "Hey that's Tony Soprano!" when watching it. It's a bit distracting at first, but you get used to it as the movie progresses.
Overall I can't recommend this film enough. If you haven't seen it, definitely check it out. I think the only somewhat negative thing I can say, even though it's not exactly negative, is that this is definitely not a film I can see myself going back and re-watching over and over again, unlike other films in the fantasy genre. There's just such a bleak and depressing tone hovering over the film for most of it's run time...because of this, it makes it not as fun to watch compared to others that I've seen.
4 out of 5 stars
Definitely Recommended
Written by: Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers and Maurice Sendak (book)
Released by: Warner Bros. Home Video
When I was a kid there were a handful of books which I remember being very fond of. Since I was such a fan of monsters and horror growing up, I of course naturally gravitated to a wonderfully illustrated book in my elementary school library titled ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by author Maurice Sendak. The book tells the tale of a young boy named Max, who through the use of his imagination, sails to the land where the wild things are...a group of fearsome looking creatures who make Max their "king". By the time I discovered this little gem back in 1985, it had already been out for over 22 years...and now, some 25 years after I discovered it, the book is just as popular as ever, having sold more than 19 million copies worldwide.
From what I understand a feature length film had been in the works ever since the early 1980's. At first it was intended to be an animated Walt Disney feature which ultimately fell through...then in 2001 Universal Studios acquired the rights and decided on a live action feature which also fell through. Then sometime in the mid 2000's Warner Brothers picked up the rights from Universal and were in the pre-production stages for many years, with the film finally hitting theatres last year, in October of 2009. Finally fans of all ages, who grew up on this wildly popular piece of literary work, would get the chance to see it's pages come to life on the big screen for the first time ever.
As stated before, the film is based around a young, adventurous, 9-year-old boy named Max, who after getting into an argument with his mother, runs away from home and sets sail across the open sea to the land where the wild things are. Once there he befriends a gigantic fuzzy monster named Carol and convinces the other monstrous inhabitants that he is a magical king from a faraway land. The naive monsters quickly buy into his ridiculous story and proclaim Max to be their new official king and ruler. As their king, Max does his best to try and please everyone, but eventually finds out that the position is not as carefree as he originally thought it would be.
Even though this is intended to be a movie suitable for young children, it fits more into the type of dark and often depressing nature of films like 'The Neverending Story' then it does most lighthearted kid's films of this era. The movie itself deals with some pretty deep issues that kids will often face during childhood...issues such as growing up without a father, loneliness, feeling like an outcast, the importance of family and being tolerant of those who are different than you. Overall I found the movie to be very intelligent and honest and one that doesn't treat its younger audience as if they were a bunch of morons like a lot of films and film-makers often do.
Since most of the film involves a young child interacting with a group of monsters, the design of the creatures could easily make or break this movie. Luckily the brilliant people at Jim Henson's Creature Shop do an incredible job with the use of practical effects and animatronics rather than the typical Hollywood CGI route. Overall I thought it was a perfect fit for the film, giving off a sense of realism not seen since the 1980's with features such as 'The Dark Crystal' and 'Labyrinth'...films in which the Jim Henson group were also a part of. The voice actors were also very well cast, although I did have somewhat of a problem with the casting of James Gandolfini as the main monster "Carol". Gandolfini does very little to change his voice and you can't help but to think "Hey that's Tony Soprano!" when watching it. It's a bit distracting at first, but you get used to it as the movie progresses.
Overall I can't recommend this film enough. If you haven't seen it, definitely check it out. I think the only somewhat negative thing I can say, even though it's not exactly negative, is that this is definitely not a film I can see myself going back and re-watching over and over again, unlike other films in the fantasy genre. There's just such a bleak and depressing tone hovering over the film for most of it's run time...because of this, it makes it not as fun to watch compared to others that I've seen.
4 out of 5 stars
Definitely Recommended
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