Where The Wild Things Are – directed by Spike Jonze, written by Spike Jonze & Dave Eggers, picture book by Maurice Sendak, produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros.
I get annoyed with lazy Hollywood adaptations because most of those films don’t pay any tribute to the original medium through any of its elements. So even with Spike Jonze attached, it’s difficult to not be cautious of the on-screen interpretation of a beloved children’s book. But with Dave Eggers, the expansion of a 338-word story into a full length feature has to be original (though there are plenty of these types of movies that just drone to fill in the gaps).
First, let’s start with the direction. It’s fantastic. Jonze is establishing himself as a real auteur by flexing his versatility. He’s primarily known for his innovative techniques, coming from the new school (skate videos to music videos to film, etc), so sometimes he can be pigeon-holed as all style and no thematic progression. However, in this movie, he is showing he understands traditional film and blends his unique vision into that, allowing his inventiveness to be perceived easily. Second, the writing is totally ambitious by essentially taking the original book and adding strong characterization, an overtly existential journey, an elaborate setting, and a background. The most stand out of which is the personality Jonze and Eggers gave to each character, allowing for every one of them to go through a life-altering process, not just Max. Speaking of which, the role of Max, played coincidentally by Max Records (who has very minimal acting experience prior to this), was one that went from emotion to emotion in a heartbeat, and not always in the most noticeable manner, either. Records plays him adequately as he does a decent job conveying the overwhelming task of adolescence. It can’t be easy acting with the wild things either, since their facial cues are CGI. As for the soundtrack, Karen O’s composing is very appropriate, often utilizing a children’s choir or setting the incredibly high or low tones of the movie. It is never overly stated by trying to steal away from scenes, which many original soundtracks with vocals often tend to commit. The cinematography is similar in that regard as well, at least for a Jonze movie because it does not draw attention to the camera as his previous films have purposefully done. Each shot relies on heavy composition and a lot of light texture for sequences of plot progression. The visual tone is generally of a neutral gray, using desaturated colors to establish the festering mood of frustrated maturation. The mixture of the fantastically elaborate costumes, animatronics, and CGI also aid in the wonderful island and the highly emotional wild things.
Although few, the film has its issues, too. The pacing of the movie is too uncomfortable because it jumps from sequence to sequence almost without regard for transition. I mean, you could scholarly argue this was to convey the sudden storms of emotion that comes with being a child, as Max portrays, but for the sake of the movie, the point of hindrance of enjoyment almost results. Another is the length of its very fun, but violent physical scenes (debut of the wild things, smashing trees, dirt clogs, etc.). They seem to be drawn out farther than necessary which gives the impression that the there is excessive emphasis on the rising action than the other acts of the plot (again, one can justify that the book’s plot is similar to this, but it seems the script had a lot of freedom).
In the end, I’m honestly surprised this version was made. Having a $100 million budget and being an adaptation of such a popular children’s book, it was a risk for big studios to produce what is ultimately a very expensive art film for kids, produced by what seems to be a team of adult kids. Meaning that, Jonze forces the audience to view this story as a child, no matter your age. So I believe it’s false to assume the extreme of saying this is not a movie for kids or that this is only a movie for kids, because it differs from other children’s films in that there is a evident respect for the child viewer. It expects and attempts for the kid viewer to genuinely relate instead of throwing out a popcorn flick filled with cheap laughs and simple story for a guaranteed box office hit (even though this is doing quite well). So, yup, I hope you go see it if you haven’t because it’s a unique movie to have such a high budget in a while and its success is somewhat relative to the influence of money for inventive cinema in the future. Let the wild rumpus start.
Rating: 8/10
