"I have a vision of eight-year-olds leaving the movie in bewilderment. Why are the creatures so unhappy?" – David Denby from the New Yorker
I'll start by admitting that I had very high expectations for "Where the Wild Things Are." Though I loved the book as a child I never developed a particular attachment to it. Rather, I was impressed with the audacity of the concept of adapting such a short story into a feature length film, though including a version of Arcade Fire's brilliant "Wake Up" in the preview certainly didn't hurt. I had a mixed reaction to the movie – in terms of quality I found it to be the utterly lopsided. The first half it all the right notes, eloquently capturing a child's perspective and achieving a perfect balance between the wonder of the creatures and the setting and the underlying layer of sadness. For an hour "Where the Wild Things Are" is a masterpiece. The second half, unfortunately, scraps everything but the sadness. The creatures cease to be interesting. The charm and humor disappear. I understand that Spike Jonze is trying to say something deep and meaningful about leaving childhood, understanding the limits of imagination, and learning the difficulty of pleasing other people, but the point is as subtle as a charging rhino. I haven't seen this much moping since Hayden Christianson in Attack of the Clones. It's like halfway through the production Spike Jonze left to be replaced by Thom Yorke.
The best part of the film is the first fifteen seconds. We see Max (Max Records) in his wolf-pajama costume chasing a dog around the house, and the movie pauses on a blurred close-up on his face. It's a delightful moment. Let me say something about Max Records. He's absolutely amazing in this film. He crawls, runs, and speaks the way a child would. Watch him wield his staff as king, or listen to how he explains his unlimited powers. Even when the rest of the film doesn't work Max Records is always in top form. Jonze's chief accomplishment is in capturing Max's point of view. As he crawls around an 'igloo' he build at the start of the story, the camera is close enough to make us feel like we're inside of it, too.
The introduction of the 'wild things' works just as well. The creatures are magnificent creations. They are CGI-enhanced giant puppets, but never for a second do we question their physical existence. They are alternately amusing, sympathetic, and scary. Max proclaims himself a king, dons a crown, and the fun begins. There's a delightful sequence where the wild things jump all over the place, eventually landing in a huge pile in perhaps the most magnificent effect in the movie, which is significant praise as every special effect looks great.
The setting is impressive. The cliffs and trees of the island dwarf Max. The island fades into a desert where an old English sheepdog wanders for no apparent reason. It's a great effect. The fort that Max has the wild things build is awing and creative, as is the miniature city constructed by wild thing Ira (voiced by James Gandolfini).
Jonze imbues these early scenes with some significant dramatic elements as well. Max throws an tantrum early in the film, and it feels appropriate. Curiously, the wild things start off with problems of their own. They're an unhappy, bickering bunch who've apparently eaten all of their past kings.
Max decides to organize a 'good guys' v 'bad guys' fight, an obviously awful idea that, once again, feels appropriately in character, but it's here that the film starts to fall apart. The fight, though fun (and visually spectacular) goes out of hand. Many of the wild things become angry or hurt. Fine. It's just that the wild things whine incessantly. Everyone's mad off all the time. Ira destroys his own model city. Max fears for his life. One wild thing's arm gets ripped off. I'm serious about that. The sadness is so over-the-top that it approaches parody. It gets tiring. The most egregious scene occurs when the wild things ask Max to prove his powers and act disenchanted when he cannot. The problem is that whole sequence is beside the point. The wild things aren't supposed to be rational beings who question that sort of thing. The effect is devastating to Max and the viewer. When he leaves his motivation seems to stem less from homesickness or character development than from simply wanting to get away from these angry monsters. We get the impression that everyone has had a rather miserable time. We sure have.
Maurice Sendak has praised Spike Jonze's film for keeping the essence of the material and expanding upon it. I disagree. I think the first half did that but that the second half was overfilled with boring character conflict. Two things were continuously phenomenal: Max Records' performance and the special effects. Once again, I understand the point of the darkness. "Where the Wild Things Are" is meant to be a multilayered, bittersweet story. Jonze was on the right track for a while but the essence of childhood captured so well early was replaced with waves of depression. Childhood can be sad. Jonze knows this and relates that fact well with Max's early tantrum. Pleasing everyone is difficult. Max learns that. Again and again and again and again and again. The simple fact is that this film's wild things have serious emotional issues far in excess of what the story requires.
I'll start by admitting that I had very high expectations for "Where the Wild Things Are." Though I loved the book as a child I never developed a particular attachment to it. Rather, I was impressed with the audacity of the concept of adapting such a short story into a feature length film, though including a version of Arcade Fire's brilliant "Wake Up" in the preview certainly didn't hurt. I had a mixed reaction to the movie – in terms of quality I found it to be the utterly lopsided. The first half it all the right notes, eloquently capturing a child's perspective and achieving a perfect balance between the wonder of the creatures and the setting and the underlying layer of sadness. For an hour "Where the Wild Things Are" is a masterpiece. The second half, unfortunately, scraps everything but the sadness. The creatures cease to be interesting. The charm and humor disappear. I understand that Spike Jonze is trying to say something deep and meaningful about leaving childhood, understanding the limits of imagination, and learning the difficulty of pleasing other people, but the point is as subtle as a charging rhino. I haven't seen this much moping since Hayden Christianson in Attack of the Clones. It's like halfway through the production Spike Jonze left to be replaced by Thom Yorke.
The best part of the film is the first fifteen seconds. We see Max (Max Records) in his wolf-pajama costume chasing a dog around the house, and the movie pauses on a blurred close-up on his face. It's a delightful moment. Let me say something about Max Records. He's absolutely amazing in this film. He crawls, runs, and speaks the way a child would. Watch him wield his staff as king, or listen to how he explains his unlimited powers. Even when the rest of the film doesn't work Max Records is always in top form. Jonze's chief accomplishment is in capturing Max's point of view. As he crawls around an 'igloo' he build at the start of the story, the camera is close enough to make us feel like we're inside of it, too.
The introduction of the 'wild things' works just as well. The creatures are magnificent creations. They are CGI-enhanced giant puppets, but never for a second do we question their physical existence. They are alternately amusing, sympathetic, and scary. Max proclaims himself a king, dons a crown, and the fun begins. There's a delightful sequence where the wild things jump all over the place, eventually landing in a huge pile in perhaps the most magnificent effect in the movie, which is significant praise as every special effect looks great.
The setting is impressive. The cliffs and trees of the island dwarf Max. The island fades into a desert where an old English sheepdog wanders for no apparent reason. It's a great effect. The fort that Max has the wild things build is awing and creative, as is the miniature city constructed by wild thing Ira (voiced by James Gandolfini).
Jonze imbues these early scenes with some significant dramatic elements as well. Max throws an tantrum early in the film, and it feels appropriate. Curiously, the wild things start off with problems of their own. They're an unhappy, bickering bunch who've apparently eaten all of their past kings.
Max decides to organize a 'good guys' v 'bad guys' fight, an obviously awful idea that, once again, feels appropriately in character, but it's here that the film starts to fall apart. The fight, though fun (and visually spectacular) goes out of hand. Many of the wild things become angry or hurt. Fine. It's just that the wild things whine incessantly. Everyone's mad off all the time. Ira destroys his own model city. Max fears for his life. One wild thing's arm gets ripped off. I'm serious about that. The sadness is so over-the-top that it approaches parody. It gets tiring. The most egregious scene occurs when the wild things ask Max to prove his powers and act disenchanted when he cannot. The problem is that whole sequence is beside the point. The wild things aren't supposed to be rational beings who question that sort of thing. The effect is devastating to Max and the viewer. When he leaves his motivation seems to stem less from homesickness or character development than from simply wanting to get away from these angry monsters. We get the impression that everyone has had a rather miserable time. We sure have.
Maurice Sendak has praised Spike Jonze's film for keeping the essence of the material and expanding upon it. I disagree. I think the first half did that but that the second half was overfilled with boring character conflict. Two things were continuously phenomenal: Max Records' performance and the special effects. Once again, I understand the point of the darkness. "Where the Wild Things Are" is meant to be a multilayered, bittersweet story. Jonze was on the right track for a while but the essence of childhood captured so well early was replaced with waves of depression. Childhood can be sad. Jonze knows this and relates that fact well with Max's early tantrum. Pleasing everyone is difficult. Max learns that. Again and again and again and again and again. The simple fact is that this film's wild things have serious emotional issues far in excess of what the story requires.