I thought it was just like the book.

This afternoon, I went to see to Where the Wild Thing Are. The last review that I read on it mentioned that this movie seems to be pulling in adults more than it is children. My impression is that it really is a movie more geared towards adults that have read the book. The kids that were in the theater were evidence enough. Many, including Sara’s son, were not engaged by the movie.

Personally, I thought that the movie pretty much followed the book. Granted, it’s taking a small story only hundreds or words long and turning it into a movie but still nothing in the movie seemed to be out of place. Just as much as the book seemed to be simplistic, so did the movie. It’s pretty straightforward and the conflicts in the story are basic mostly dealing with emotional feelings of loneliness and rage. I thought that this movie was a little shallow and missed an opportunity to really depict child psychology.

My other main gripes were that the problems of the wild things didn’t seem to come to a resolution. In fact, they seemed to be worse off than they were at the beginning of the movie. The main character, Max, comes off as being a child with anger-management issues rather than a normal boy who is misbehaving. Also, the mother comes off as being too forgiving.

If you are considering seeing this with your kids, I would suggest you pass on it. There are other movies that I’m sure that they would enjoy much better. If you have read the book and feel like going on a nostalgic trip, then this movie is for you. Unless you’re paying seven, eight, nine dollars for a ticket, then I’d say wait for a rental.


h/t to hollywoodstreams which posted the vid.