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'Wild Things' is wildly different
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Wild.
Whatever you were expecting from Where The Wild Things Are stop expecting it. The movie is most likely in some way not what you think. If you're signed up for anything remotely akin to a children's film then you're going to be surprised by how little this movie was actually made for kids. Wild Things is not a children's film, it's an art house movie that is one of the best metaphorical studies on modern day childhood put to screen. This is the kind of movie that you watch ten times and then write a thesis paper on. That being said, it is also the kind of movie you enjoy thoroughly.
For those of you in the world who didn't have a childhood or didn't have children or pretty much avoided reading anything ever, Where the Wild Things Are is base on Maurice Sendak's seminal children's book of the same name. However, director Spike Jonze, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dave Eggers and input from Sendak, turned what was a brilliant children's story into what is a brilliant story about children and childhood. Max, a young boy facing many of the modern day challenges of young boys, runs away from home and hops on a small raft only to land where the Wild Things are. For those who have read the book all the characters are instantly recognizable, but instead of simply being "wild things" they are now fully developed characters, each representing a different facet of Max's childhood interactions and interpretations of the world. In short each Wild Thing is a deconstruction of Max and his world, and it works brilliantly.
After Max is crowned "King of the Wild Things," since he is of course finding himself and attempting to rule over his own emotions the film jumps from musical montage to wild things building a fort to musical montage. If you're watching it for some sort of epic plot it will seem as if the film is almost going nowhere. However, if you watch it as Max's story, as a story about a boy growing up, each part becomes far more important. Every segment confronts the construction and deconstruction of a little boy. They're not just frogs and snails, and puppy-dogs tails you know. Max's interactions with the Wild Things are fun, aggravating, angering and intriguing. For anyone whose ever been or raised a little boy they are spot on.
If all this sounds more boring than a silent film about Napoleon (obscure film reference!) please do not make it stop you from seeing the film because your eyes will never forgive you. Jonze has created one of the most visually stunning films ever -- that isn't hyperbole. The music, scenery and effects flow together seamlessly and if Jonze's shot construction was any better it would have to be compared to Citizen Kane. There are moments in this movie that take the breathe away they are so beautiful and times when a single frame can instantly teleport you back to being a kid. If that isn't worth the price of admission then nothing is.
Of course the most prominent thing for most people, especially after watching the initial release trailer for the film (best trailer ever), is the Wild Things themselves. Jonze worked with the Jim Henson Company to create giant puppeted bodies for the Wild Things and then nailed down their facial expressions using CGI. It is absolutely flawless and without a shadow of a doubt better than the entirely CGI alternative. The way the wild thing's bodies move and interact is something that could never be recreated through CGI and their faces will leave you desperately trying to find flaws in the animation. You won't. In fact you'll be more touched by their facial expressions and acting than any human in the film. Not that newcomer Max Records, who plays Max, does a shoddy job, far from it, but the animation on the Wild Things is just that amazing.
So ditch the kids (or bring them as all the children in the theater seemed to enjoy the movie too) and prepare for a night of movie watching that was designed not just to entertain, but to mean something. This is cinema at its best and most beautiful.
Ticket Giveaway: Ong Bak 2
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