Finally, a children's movie for adults...wait? What!?

Review in Progress...



For this review, I will essentially be righting two different pieces. One reviewing the film's content, and one review the impact on the audience. Thank you.

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Part 1.

Kid is happy. Kid has hard time. Friendship and love help makes thing better. Happy ending. That is the basic structure of virtually every children's movie that I've seen in my lifetime. They all convey the same ole' feel good story that leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Mr. Spike Jonze gave the genre of children's films a big "F*** YOU," with his adaption of Maurice Sendak's classic, "Where the Wild Things Are." "Where the Wild Things Are" tells the story of Max, a young boy with a very active imagination, and an all too real sense of loneliness. After being fed up with being ignored and feeling unappreciated by his mother, sister, and absent father, a fight involving corn causes Max to run away from home and into the woods. There he discovers a small sailboat and decides to take off onto the sea. On his sea adventure, Max stumbles across an island inhabited by giant hairy monsters. Scared at first, Max engages these monsters who are fighting amongst themselves, and tells them a story of vikings and exploding heads. The monsters then decide to make Max their king in exchange for Max promising to take away all the loneliness. Adventures ensue with wild rumpuses, dirt clog fights, fortress building, and oh...did I mention arms being ripped off and little kids being eaten? Soon Max realized that he couldn't take away all the loneliness and make everyone happy, and then left his kingdom to go back home. Despite failing at his quest, an impression was left with the monsters of the island. Whether they were brought closer together, or torn further apart, we may never know.


Part 2.

As I stated earlier, most children's films share a similiar "feel good" tone. "Where the Wild Things Are" breaks away from the convention and dives into what kids really struggle with. This film has themes of fear, loneliness, being ignored and underappreciated, and general depression. In fact, happy moments in this film don't last any longer than seemingly 5 mintues at a time. And thank God! I predict that there will be alot of controversy over this film concerning whether it's "age appropriate" or just down-right "too dark." The film begins with a close-up, heart throbbing, scary chase scene between a boy in a wild costume and a family dog. The chase ends in a wrestling match that leaves us wondering, "Is that kid hurting the dog?" Right off the bat, violence and fear are being portrayed to the audience. And remember, this film is rated PG.

Throughout the film, fear plays a major role. During an interview, author of the original book, Maurice Sendak, said that he wanted elements of fear in the film, that way the children watching it would feel as if it were more than just some kid's movie. And that it does. "Where the Wild Thing Are" rarely feels like a children's film. Several times, you find yourself worried half to death if Max is going to die. Is the monster going to eat him? Will be crushed by that tree? And luckily due to the great cinemantography and directing, the audience truly feels this fear and connection. Many parents will most likely shield their children from this film. Argueing that it's too dark, anti-religious, or not happy enough. I say that this film should be put on the required viewing list. While Disney conveys themes of love and friendship with happy endings, something every child loves to see, "Where the Wild Thing Are" shows children the rest of the emotional spectrem; emotions that they really do understand. Every child feels lonely and depressed from time to time. And these emotions should not be shielded from them. If you are a parent and don't want your child exposed to these negative feelings, then maybe you shouldn't be letting them sit and watch these action blockbusters whose themes consist of sex and violence.