WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (2009)
While I mildly enjoyed this movie, I felt that director Spike Jonze played it entirely too safe. To me, he could have really gone one of two ways when making the film. The first of which would be to go completely dark and create a movie aimed at adults, which would probably frighten most young children. The second way would be to create a true family/kids movie, but this would probably scare away the coveted young adult demographic.
He instead played it straight down the middle, creating a film that unfolds like a cinematic identity crisis. Huge fans of the book might love it, but I'm not sure Jonze is truly going to connect with any particular group of viewers.
Newcomer Max Records stars as Max, a mischievous young boy whose igloo is destroyed in the opening scene by his sister's friends. After throwing a tantrum he seeks comfort in the form of his mother, played by Catherine Keener. Unfortunately, his mom is a bit preoccupied by the presence of her boyfriend, played by the fabulous Mark Ruffalo (can you blame her?). Max then throws another fit, which ends with him biting his mother before running away.
Max hops on a boat and sails out to an island where he finds a group of monsters destroying things. Max feels right at home and joins in on the fun. After a brief discussion and some ridiculous storytelling by Max, the monsters (voiced by James Gandolfini and Forest Whitaker, among others) decide to crown Max their king. Max and the monsters continue their fun for what seems like an eternity until we predictably reach the conclusion and moral of the story.
For some reason, Jonze found it necessary to use shaky hand-held shots almost exclusively throughout the entire movie. Not only was this distracting and tiring, but a lot of the shots also seemed out of focus. This technique took away from the true beauty of the film, which was the visually stunning environment of the island.
The overall set design and art direction was awe inspiring and the beautiful score always set just the right tone for each scene. Keener was fantastic as always, even with her limited screen time. The endless banter between the monsters was frequently entertaining enough to keep me interested amongst all of the mayhem.
Perhaps I set my expectations a bit high for this movie based on the trailer and my appreciation for the director's other films (ADAPTATION and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH). It might also have something to do with the fact that I'm not a huge fan of the book, unlike much of the audience I was a part of. WATCHMEN, a film I thoroughly enjoyed, faced a similar problem with some viewers when it was released earlier this year. Either way, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE left me unfulfilled and disappointed that an opportunity to create a masterpiece was missed.
Rating: 6/10
While I mildly enjoyed this movie, I felt that director Spike Jonze played it entirely too safe. To me, he could have really gone one of two ways when making the film. The first of which would be to go completely dark and create a movie aimed at adults, which would probably frighten most young children. The second way would be to create a true family/kids movie, but this would probably scare away the coveted young adult demographic.
He instead played it straight down the middle, creating a film that unfolds like a cinematic identity crisis. Huge fans of the book might love it, but I'm not sure Jonze is truly going to connect with any particular group of viewers.
Newcomer Max Records stars as Max, a mischievous young boy whose igloo is destroyed in the opening scene by his sister's friends. After throwing a tantrum he seeks comfort in the form of his mother, played by Catherine Keener. Unfortunately, his mom is a bit preoccupied by the presence of her boyfriend, played by the fabulous Mark Ruffalo (can you blame her?). Max then throws another fit, which ends with him biting his mother before running away.
Max hops on a boat and sails out to an island where he finds a group of monsters destroying things. Max feels right at home and joins in on the fun. After a brief discussion and some ridiculous storytelling by Max, the monsters (voiced by James Gandolfini and Forest Whitaker, among others) decide to crown Max their king. Max and the monsters continue their fun for what seems like an eternity until we predictably reach the conclusion and moral of the story.
For some reason, Jonze found it necessary to use shaky hand-held shots almost exclusively throughout the entire movie. Not only was this distracting and tiring, but a lot of the shots also seemed out of focus. This technique took away from the true beauty of the film, which was the visually stunning environment of the island.
The overall set design and art direction was awe inspiring and the beautiful score always set just the right tone for each scene. Keener was fantastic as always, even with her limited screen time. The endless banter between the monsters was frequently entertaining enough to keep me interested amongst all of the mayhem.
Perhaps I set my expectations a bit high for this movie based on the trailer and my appreciation for the director's other films (ADAPTATION and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH). It might also have something to do with the fact that I'm not a huge fan of the book, unlike much of the audience I was a part of. WATCHMEN, a film I thoroughly enjoyed, faced a similar problem with some viewers when it was released earlier this year. Either way, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE left me unfulfilled and disappointed that an opportunity to create a masterpiece was missed.
Rating: 6/10