Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are

An Invitation to Revisit Childhood, All It's Glory and Loneliness

Nov 2, 2009

Spike Jonze did not set out to make a children's film with "Where The Wild Things Are". His intention was to tell the story through the point of view of a child.

A Movie About Childhood, Not Necessarily For ChildrenWhen seeing the previews for the film many kids will respond to the fuzzy cudliness of the Muppets and they will immediately want to see the film. When the closing credits role the kiddies may be boggled by the somber mood of the film. It plays better for Big Kids who will remember the fluctuations of childhood from lonely and frustrating to splendid and carefree. The film is a challenge in the same way Maurice Sendak's book was when it was banned from public libraries after its release in 1963. It's different.

So, how does one turn ten sentences into a feature film? The answer alone is worth seeing it. In the first part the audience is introduced to Max, (honest and charming Max Records), a lonely kid who can't seem to get the attention of his sister and his mother (big-hearted Catherine Keener). When Mom has her boyfriend over, uh-oh here comes the wolf costume. He throws a big fit and bites mom on the arm. Being unable to comprehend the physical pain that he has caused her he runs away.

Book fans might feel jipped when they don't get to see his bedroom transforming into a jungle. Instead, Jonze makes another choice and seemlessly weaves the realistic world and the fantastic one together when Max sets sail in a human size replica of a toy boat that he was playing with in an earlier scene. By using Max's toy, the choice suggests that it is an imaginary journey that he is about to take.

Max lands on the island and finds the Things. There is no grand reveal. There is no Hollywood music to support the introduction of giant Muppets. There is no sense of terror when Max's presence is discovered and that might have served this scene. In the book, fear is elicited for Max. They threaten to eat him and readers wonder how he's going to stop them. In the film, it seems that they don't have any intentions of actually eating him even though they threaten to. Max pronounces himself King and they all become his biggest fans.

The Things are voiced by an A-list Cast including James Gandolfini, Forrest Whitaker and Lauren Ambrose, and their dialogue is quite hilarious at times as it simultaneously projects the voice of an adult, different behavioral issues of children and the physical presence of giant, fuzzy creatures.

For the next hour of the film, the gang busies itself with something like any 10 year old's Saturday afternoon, fit with Good Guys Vs. Bad Guys, a "wild rumpus", the building of a fort and a series of drastic shifts into arguments and childhood malice. There isn't much of a plot as the movie just sits and stirs on its themes like opera and anyone who appreciates that sort of meditative art won't mind the lack of story.

The Muppetry And Characterization of Where The Wild Things AreThe special effects are phenomenal. It has gotten to the point where puppetry, computer generated animation and filmaking are able to create something completely believable as a living thing. Compare this film with "The Dark Crystal" and the level of believablility is just simply something that was not possible then and is now. It was refreshing and exciting to see something fresh from Jim Henson's company and the Bonus Features on the DVD ought to be a treat.

Each of the creatures has some sort of behavioral problem with the exception of Forrest Whitaker's Ira who aims to please all and seems content. Judith is deeply insecure and says nasty things to everyone else. The Bull is withdrawn and depressed, only speaking in his final scene. Carol, the group's leader, has anger management problems up the wazoo. His mood swings resemble another character played by Gandolfini that adults might recognize.

Max's departure from the island happens just as abruptly as his arrival and even with the memorable phrase from big shaggy monster/teenage goth chick KW "I'll eat you up, I love you so" one feels a sense of non-closure as Max sails away.

The best moments of the film are its last moments. There aren't any words shared between Max and his mother when he returns home. She rejoices silently and falls asleep, smiling and watching him eat at the supper table. That profound expression of the love between a mother and her child is the films greatest achievment.

Has Spike Jonze Created A Masterpiece?Basically, for anyone expecting a Disney feeling, and there's nothing wrong with that, then it's possible that this one could prove to be a disappointment. But for anyone who is a fan of Jonze's other films and whose favorite children's films were on the darker side then "Where The Wild Things Are" will play like a perfect hybrid of the two. With films like "Adaptation" and "Being John Malkovich" Jonze demonstrated how to tap into the fragility of the human condition in very unique ways with the help of Charlie Kauffman's wildly imaginative writing. Here Jonze is demonstrating the abilitiy to create his own screenplay and execute it to suit his style as a director. Though it is not a masterpiece it places itself in leagues with Jonze's other films and gives promise that his voice and vision are ones to anxiously anticipate.

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