Maybe fun viewing for some kids, but even most eight year olds will want more story than this
Director Spike Jonze (“Being John Malkovich”) teams up with wunderkind writer Dave Eggers to make a film out of Maurice Sendak’s smash children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” and the results are not good. This is not the fault of author Sendak who penned and illustrated one of the classic children’s fantasies of the latter half of the 20th century. His book caused a sensation due to the horrific nature of the illustrations; they were either too good or too awful depending on who you talked to. In any event he took home the Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children in 1964.
This film features most of the characters from the book with CGI animation and puppetry that actually do justice to the original intent, but the acting and screenplay drag the film down. Producer Tom Hanks was part of a pioneer CGI team when it was used in “Forrest Gump to remove Gary Sinise' legs, place Hanks in a napalm strike, speed up the Ping-Pong balls and, most hilariously, to put Tom Hanks into the White House and Dr. Pepper heaven. He never forgot the magic and it comes through loud and clear in this movie. The half animal / half human characters are as frightening as they are funny.
Like Shrek the monsters are powerful but have a soft side. As in “Toy Story” they cover the entire spectrum of kid personalities from shy to bullying to smart to dumb. Unfortunately the screenplay is severely lacking especially in comparison to the magic of the puppetry and special effects.
The plot is an “Alice in Wonderland” and “Wizard of Oz” set-up wherein Max (Max Records) gets upset at home, bites his mother, and runs away to a fantasy land where he can escape to weird creatures who revere him as their king. It isn’t clear exactly what he is escaping from, perhaps the angst of a ten year old, but Max certainly has an imagination. The creatures in the film are great, they have very well defined personalities that are a wonderful contrast to the vividly horrific nature of their physical appearance.
The problem comes with the acting as well as the screenplay. Both are tedious and lacking in substance; guaranteed to bore any adults in the audience and probably 90% of the kids. The cinematography is very good and the special effects are few but well chosen. Although one can see the super-kid Dave Eggers in the intimate knowledge of the child’s mind (“What is the What”) the script itself is hackneyed. It is boring and too predictable.
The sound track of the film is great and if the viewer can put aside the near total lack of content in the story (some kids can) the music is toe-tapping lively and soft guitar sweet. The final lesson is the happy ending one would expect: “Toto, there is no place like home.” Or, “Gee, Mom, I’m sorry I bit you as I was running amok and screaming through the house and making your life miserable.” Hey, what are kids for?
Almost non-existent supporting roles for Catherine Keener and Mark Ruffalo. Why are they there? Currying favor from exec producer Tom Hanks? Great voices by James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Michael Berry Jr., Chris Cooper and Lauren Ambrose.
A fun experience if you have the patience and endurance to concentrate on the puppets and not dote on the verbiage.
Directed by: Spike Jonze
Starring: Max Records
Release: October 16, 2009
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