Where the Wild Things Are 2009

 5

I LOVED this movie - But having always been a fan of the book (and Jim Henson) that was predictable I guess. No matter how much I loved it - my two kids (6 and 3) fell asleep in the middle of the movie. It just wasn't riveting enough for them - there are long stretches where very little happens. I guess the story (being quite short) once stretched out loses it's appeal for kids. They just wanted to see the book on the big screen, and this was probably a bit dark for the little ones - who only know the book and fail to see the story behind the story.

If you are a grown up kid, and remember the book from days long gone, you will love this - especially for those of us from the Muppets era. The characters are fantastic, their childlike emotions expertly portrayed, and the story is well translated from a kids book where it is easy to miss the point of the story to this movie where the point can't be missed.

By Nicola

I'd see it again

 5

Spike Jonze has got to be a genius to make this what it is. The strong emotional pull and crisp/clean storytelling make it work in the way any real life story can

By Ken Burns

Wild Rumpus!

 5

Spike Jones deserves every credit for this movie, by far the best adaptation i have seen in years! while the movie maintains the same basic plot of the book, it is deeply layered in symbolism and references from the 'real world' and the island of the wild things. while the book is great with its ever-growing illustrations (mirrored in the fantastic cinematography in the film) and simple language, it is devoid of any moral guide as to why Max is misbehaving, the movie constructs a delicate backstory for the character of Max, and inturn each of the wild things. the jewel in the crown is without a doubt the stunning performance from Max Records, as max, king of the wild things. i was amazed at the capacity and the range that he displayed, especially for a kid new to acting. the one qualm i have was that at some point during the movie the wild things become too much of thier own separate entities rather than facets of max's imagination and personality, making it slightly difficult to place their personalities back into max's 'real world'. the soundtrack by karen o of the yeah yeah yeahs is fantastic, hummed by max records and backed up by an untrained children's choir, it adds even more depth to the movie, from dark and brooding to light and bubbly, to intimate and warm. this was by far the best movie i have seen in years

By nev

Boring

I also took my granddaughter to see this movie and dodnt get a lot of excitement either the two grown men on either side of us found it so uninteresting that they snored through it ( and no they wernt with me). BIG dissapointment

By d

Surprisingly rather disappointing...

 2

Though most of us adults have the child within us, I failed to excite the one within me on this one! I was surprised at how much I was looking forward to it ending... Not horrendous, but not an experience I'm overly keen to repeat. My neice however LOVED it, so it's very much a matter of individual taste (and age too no doubt).

By Bex

Boring

 2

My girl friend loved it but I nearly went to sleep. It did not do alot for me.

By Nick

Art House

 3

This film is an interesting adaption of the beloved children's book but I thought it was too ArtHouse the audience which the book appeals to due to it's lack of humour. However the sound track, performances and graphics where done well.

By Grace

“And we’ll all sleep together in a real pile.”

 5

Perfect.

By 101

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

 5

“I’ve never seen a movie that looked or felt like this. And it’s [Spike Jonze's] personal ‘this.’ And he’s not afraid of himself. He’s a real artist that lets it come through in the work. So he’s touched me. He’s touched me very much.”[19] After seeing the finished product, a Warner Bros. executive stated "He's (Jonze) a perfectionist and just kept working on it, but now we know that at the end of the day he nailed it."

By Maurice Sendak

100 mins I'll never get back

 1

I read the book as a child, and was absolutly mesmorised. However, the movie did little to impress. The lack of humour and boring between conversation scenes ruined it for me.
The only good comment I can give on this movie, is that the soundtrack is beautiful, but why pay close to twenty bucks to listen to the occasional song?

By Alysha

Crippled

 1

This film not only crippled my favorit kids book, it confused and upset my five your old boy who also loves the book. Jones should have gone off on his own and tried telling his depressing little melodrama to an audience not attached to this franchise and seen how he got on, yes Im angry at what has been done here, my advise is avoid this.

By Sean

Mismarketed

 1

If you think you're going to see a happy fun kids/adults movie, you'll be sadly disapointed... this ain't no 'Shrek'. The movie trailer tries to depict just this,with the one and only slightly humorous shot of the 'stray dog'....even the cinema's promo with the large cardboard cut-out where children can poke their heads through standing next to a 'wild thing". By contrast, our family found it dark and depressing (my psyhcotherapist friend said she felt like she had just spent a day at the office after watching the film.)In its context, the movie is fine but again totally misleading in its trailer and by the cinema. Poor form by both i say.In summary, the director wasted an iconic kids book to portray his view of social disfunction and whatever else he was trying get out there.

By ross

yay

 5

its sooo cute i loved it hehe xx

By hannah

depressing, dismal and sad

 1

Take a great, uplifting and fun kids book and just add Hollywood. Are their lives so rubbish that they have to inflict it on the rest of us? Another triumph of style over substance. Thank god I don't live next door to the Jonzes as I would have to kill him. The absolute worst movie I have sat through in the last 3 decades. Not for kids, not for adults. Teenagers won't bother 'cause they have vampire movies that at least have some hopefulness in them . . . not even worth 1 star. I can't believe I actually paid cash to see this.

By notwildaboutit

It felt empty

 2

If I had to describe the movie in one sentence, I would have to say it just felt empty. I don't exactly know what Jonze was trying to go for, because it was neither here nor there. For one, it was terrible viewing for a child and from the trailers you could be fooled into thinking it was a light hearted adventure for a small boy. The reality was something much more dark and well beyond a childs comprehension.
Yet if it was truly intended for an adult audience, then why was it so hollow? Some of the dialog felt as though we were listening to 10 minute discussions between a bunch of stoners.
The redeeming qualities for the film were the excellent artistic direction, which I felt was spot on. The acting performances were solid enough to build emotional attachment for the viewer, but ultimately the film felt slow and boring. A weakly attempted moralistic journey for a small boy that largely missed the mark

By Andrew

A beautiful, real film.

 5

The film is a lovely exploration into community, how we are all imperfect.
I can understand why someone would find it boring, someone looking for a comedy or a children's film wont find it here.
But you will find a beautiful film told by Spike Jones. It probably requires a good taste in films to enjoy :)

By Steve Maslin

Disappointing

 1

I sat through Borat, I sat through Bruno, In both I thought it was hours of my life I couldn't get back and was disappointed in those movies and disappointed in myself for putting myself through them. This movie made me feel the same. As a kids movie it's too dark and boring. There are too few amusing scenes. As an adult movie - it's just boring. Having read reviews that range from awesome to dross, it seems to me that most people are saying it's good because that's what they think they should say. Still - to be fair one shouldn't take too much notice of reiews as to whether or not to see a movie - go yourself, watch it and make up your own mind. But be prepared to be bored!

By Bruce

disappointingly over melodramatic

 1

The original story of a boy filled with energy at the end of the day, pushing boundries and finding that breaking the rules has a consequence. He thinks that running away to a place where there are no boundries and he can be as wild as he likes would be great. Then he realises that being home where he is loved is a good place to be, even with rules and expectations - a basic little message wrapped in scary/friendly make believe for children 3 to 8. The movie turns this simple message into an over-the-top melodrama about social structures and complex relationships. Max is turned into a confused boy lost in the problems associated with single parenting. Misunderstood and lacking the understanding of the family structure he is in. The Wild Things seem to be based on a bad 70's hippy commune. A group of misfits, most with socia-pathic tendancies. A large helping of role-reversal for Max and a distinct lack of colour and fun through most of the movie. The deep and over dramatized message is way above the minds of the 3 to 8 year olds the book is originally for, and far too heavy and rather depressing for the ones who grew up loving this book. I hope the re-make in the next decade better matches the adventure and simple fun it wa meant to be.

By janet

Beautifully Magical

 5

An incredible adaptation of a much much loved children's book. A incredibly pure exploration of childhood insecurities and emotions, for that very reason it is clearly not aimed at children and this is apparent in the trailer, not one for the little littlies, children around 10+ would still enjoy this film despite not being able to understand the underlying meaning and theme, they would still appreciate its adventure-story element. Its an invitation for adults to look back on childhood and reminisce and it does this impeccably well.

By Brooke

WOW....

 5

if anyone could have pulled this off it would have been spike jones, and pull it off he did indeed. every little detail of the book has been carefully looked at then spectacularly recreated; from the romping wild things, lead by the voice of james gandolfini (tony soprano), to the vivid depiction of the island of the wild things, and the jewel in the crown is without a doubt the stunning performance from max records, as max, king of the wild things. i was amazed at the capacity and the range that he displayed, especially for a kid new to the acting scene. the one qualm i have was that at some point during the movie the wild things became thier own separate entities rather than facets of max's imagination, making it slightly difficult to place their personalities back into max's 'real world' the soundtrack by karen o of the yeah yeah yeahs is fantastic, it gives the film a very 'out of the ordinary' feel about it.

by far the best movie i have seen in years

By nevin

Beautiful

 5

The movie retains the ESSENCE of the book, which I think is what many of us latch onto in the book.

By WildThing

I was somewhat dissapointed....

 3

Don't get me wrong this is a FABULOUS retelling of the book, beautifully made, and is a must see. However this isn't a movie for your kids, I'm sad to say they might get a little bit scared in parts. This movie does seem a bit slow in parts and you do get a bit bored, however it is still a MUST see. I gained an emotional connection with max, like I didn't expect to, and what can I say about the wild things? BRILLIANT

By Joshua Brucker

Fantastic!

 5

Such a beautiful movie, life through the eyes of Max was an emotional rollercoaster, making you laugh, cry and everything inbetween.

The creatures were absolutely fantastic, the expressions and voice work was perfect, really portrayed the wild nature of Max's mind and emotional state perfectly.

This is a must see for every child at heart!

By Nayan

The physical presentation of the creatures was incredible.

 4

Their characters I just adored. A somewhat stretched version of the story book but enjoyable all the same. Shades of "Star Wars" in regard to the sand dunes & the sounds of sorrow from Carol. as he watched Max. depart
A child's imagination is a wonderful thing.

By Hope Smith

Childhood memories

 5

Beautiful soundtrack!!
Spike Jonez took a simple childrens story and made myself and my 4 yr old wild thing laugh, feel scared and cry!!
Definatley recommend to anyone who once was, or is a WILD THING...

By Sarah

dreamy

 4

I really enjoyed the film, it moved at a light dreamy pace.... with some scenes that pull on the heart.

I found it funnier than I was expecting, and loved the owls ...

The visuals are stunning, both with the creatures and the environment.

I am not a fan of shakey camera work though... luckily there was only a little bit of hand held work that I noticed.

Cathereen Keneer is my favourite movie mum!...

By Rob

I can't believe it.

 5

I actually cried at the end....over a child's relationship with a monster. Unbelievable. The facial expressions and emotions of these creatures were unreal. I want to go Where the Wild Things Are!

By Deb

Thoroughly enjoyed it!

 4

I couldn't help but notice that for all the fun parts of this movie, I just couldn't help but have a huge smile on my face... I think that summed up how I felt about it - it constantly made me really feel what the movie was trying to portray.

A really nice wee movie with some emotional ups and downs and killer soundtrack by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

By Adrian

Can't wait...

 5

An absolute must I reckon....seen the trailer and can't wait for the movie...love LOVE the book and am hoping for a great viewing....go the wild things...lol

By Eilis