Review: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

From We Are Movie Geeks: Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is a classic amongst children’s books, not so much due to mere entertainment value, though it has that, but because of how much it means to children whose parents have read it to them. Children empathize with Max, a boy whose mother sends him to his room after he acts out his more aggressive side, a boy who finds solace in a mystical world he creates where monsters roam and wild rumpuses abound. To say Sendak’s story is magical to children is putting it lightly, and saying Spike Jonze’s feature film adaptation is commendable in regards to Sendak’s story is as much of an understatement as you can muster.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is a master work. It tells its intricate and nuanced story with grace and care that only a parent can give a child, and its characters come to life in startlingly exquisite detail. More than just a coming of age story, the narrative Jonze has expanded from the original book takes the themes Sendak created and flashes them in an immense presence. He does all this without ever allowing the film to feel forced or less than genuine. Such a feature film adaptation of a children’s book could have easily been just that. Jonze, to his credit, is anything but a bogus filmmaker. His visions come across on screen every time he steps behind the camera, and, with WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, he truly captures the feeling within all children that sometimes it is easier to be the wild thing than the conformed.

via Review: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE- We Are Movie Geeks.