Where The Wild Things Are
Review
by Sean Lynch
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Where The Wild Things Are
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Parents,
get your kids away from those TVs, fill them with chocolate and prepare
to see something of the likes of the classic 1980s adventure films of
your youth. Where The Wild Things Are had finally arrived!
Innovative
director Spike Jonze collaborates with celebrated author Maurice Sendak
to bring one of the most beloved books of all time to the big screen in
Where the Wild Things Are, a classic story about childhood and the places we go (real or imagined) to figure out the world we live in.
The
film tells the story of Max, a rambunctious and sensitive boy who feels
misunderstood at home and escapes to where the Wild Things are.
Max
lands on an island where he meets mysterious and strange creatures
whose emotions are as wild and unpredictable as their actions. The Wild
Things desperately long for a leader to guide them, just as Max longs
for a kingdom to rule.
When Max is crowned king, he promises to
create a place where everyone will be happy. Max soon finds, though,
that ruling his kingdom is not so easy and his relationships there
prove to be more complicated than he originally thought.
Shot on location and in studios across Victoria, Where The Wild Things Are
is everything fans of the book could ever hope for and possibly just a
little bit more. The use of real-life "Wild Things" suits combined with
the most subtle uses of CGI is a grand example of why computer
technology will never replace reality... or Jim Henson's impact on the
world.
The Wild Things feel real, because they ARE real - and that just adds to the magic of the experience.
A
wonderful cast, including youngster Max Records as a bratty little kid
and James Gandolfini as Carol (a truly wonderful performance from a
grown man giving everything he has to play an internally angry young
boy), as well as a creepily calm indie score from Karen O... and you've
got yourself on of the first true cult classics of the decade.
3.5
out
of 5
Where The Wild Things Are
Australian release: 3rd December,
2009
Official
Site: Where The Wild Things Are
Cast: Catherine Keener, Max Records, Mark Ruffalo, Lauren Ambrose, James Gandolfini
Director: Spike Jonze
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