Where The Wild Things Are: My Thoughts

I finally saw Where The Wild Things Are last night, and... well... I liked it okay. A little background: I'm the only one I know who wasn't exposed to the book as a kid (really, it feels like everyone I talk to had a childhood-love affair with the 10-sentence, 37-page book), so I have no prior attachment to the characters and I don't feel like the making a movie about it is somehow a bastardization of my childhood. Also, I'll admit, I dig the hipster coolness of the Spike Jonze brand (be it his ads, his music videos, his movies... or his short films about Kanye West's general douche-baggery manifesting itself as a suicidal rat-creature). So I went into this movie baggage-free and optimistic. And, like I say, I liked it. Somewhat.

It's definitely a smart script, with a sharp, nuanced, and (thankfully) subtle examination of being young, imaginative, and energetic. Max is a believable kid. He isn't cute and precocious, like most movie-kids; he's naive, destructive, impulsive, illogical, and yup, sometimes completely insensitive and mean. And I like how the monsters all represent some aspect of being a kid or a parent. Also, the look of the film is great, the soundtrack is cool, and I can't explain it, but I absolutely love James Gandolfini's voice-work as lead monster Carol.

So what did I find wrong with the film? Well, it just kind of petered out for me near the end. After the first hour and 10 minutes (just about after the completely awesome dirt-clod fight sequence) it began to get boring, with the tension dissipating almost completely. I think the film maybe could have used a stronger climax. Maybe something like all the monsters finally really turning on Max or something stronger than what we actually got, which was Carol turning on Max, Max escaping, and several conversation scenes helping Max finally realize he wants to go home. In the end... the kids and the critics who called it boring? I don't entirely disagree.

Either way, it's beautiful and smart, and it's the second film this year that makes me want to check out David Egger's books.