Where the Wild Things Are
In Theaters Friday, October 16th
A truly great film does more than pacify the audience for 2 hours. Excellence in filmmaking is judged by how the viewer is engaged with both the characters and story presented to them. Rarely is this pinnacle achieved, especially in the realm of films targeted for children, however that is not the case in this adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s 10-line story of a little boy and the wild creatures he rules. “Where the Wild Things Are” excels in every level of cinematic greatness and will take you on an journey of what it was like to be a child and where you will, as my 10 year old daughter put it, “feel all of the emotions”.

I was 10 years old myself when I first read “Where the Wild Things Are”. At the time my parents were going through a divorce and I had just lost my grandmother to cancer as well. As a child it is nearly impossible to maturely express the emotions tied with traumatic events like this. Children operate in fantasy and make-believe, a world of extremes where each event is either the best thing to ever happen to them or the worst possible outcome they could imagine. How easy it is then to relate to the idea of escaping to a far away world where you are the ruler and the reality of life has no hold on you. Director Spike Jonze has taken this idea from a simplistic children’s book and delivered one of the most riveting family films to come along in years.

For those unfamiliar with the story, “Where the Wild Things Are” is the tale of a boy named Max who, after being instructed to not behave unruly, creates a world for himself where he rules over the Wild Things and goes on a rumpus with them. It is a place where there is no bedtime or etiquette, just the nature of a young child let loose with monsters. Without giving anything away, I will simply say that this story has been greatly expanded upon in the 94 minute runtime, but never once feels as if it strays from the wonderful source material.

My recommendation for this film couldn’t be any higher. From the top notch voice-acting to the incredible young talent discovered in Max Records, there is quality movie making at every turn. Take your children(if they can handle monsters growling then they will be just fine) and enjoy what it was like to be a child and truly run wild·.I know I did.

Grade: A+