Where the Wild Things Are

This film is based on the children’s book but I would not say that it is aimed at children- more for grown-up people who read the book when they were younger. It can be quiet dark at points and the wild things are not the sweet, cute characters you expect from a typical childrens’ film- they are mean, negative and a bit strange.

The main character, Max is a rebellious, lonely child with very bad mood swings. His sister, Claire does not like him and his mother (Catherine Keener) is always busy with her new boyfriend so Max is reduced to making imaginary friends and playing games alone. One evening Max has a terrible mood swing and keeps arguing with his mum. Things get heated and she hits him on impulse. Horrified, Max runs away from home, sails across to an island where he finds some wild creatures. The wild things do not like him at first but after convincing them that he is a king and has special powers, they let him stay because they think he will bring happiness to their community. Max becomes friends with them, learning their different personalities and helping them make a new home. After a few days, things start going wrong and they point the finger at Max. He learns that his home is not as bad as he thought and every family has their problems.

Each wild thing reflects an element of Max. It is really clever because you don’t think about it straight away. Carol (James Gandolfini) has the worst mood swings and when he gets angry, he yells and ends up destroying things, just like Max. Alexander (Paul Dano) feels alone and that nobody ever listens to him. KW can be very caring person and is fed up of people fighting. All these personalities make Max realise how he can be and you feel positive that he is going to change and be a nicer person at the end. Although this film is focussed on the wild things, it is actually more about Max’s self-discovery which they help him do.

The effects and voices for the wild things are amazing. You actually feel like they are real creatures, not just animated beings. There are times when they are sad and I actually felt sorry for them. I got more emotional over the creatures emotions rather than Maxs. I found Max a bit annoying at times because he yelled a lot and I couldn’t always understand what he was saying. I guess that is part of his crazy, destructive character and at least you can understand why his mother finds him a handful.

Nothing really happens in this film; it is basically just about the developing relationship between the wild things and Max. The film follows his time on their island and learning about the personalities and how a certain mood can affect a group. If you think this is an uplifting childrens’ film, you are wrong. The ending is sad, the message is deep and the mood is dark. This is not a must-see but it is a sweet little film all the same.