Where The Wild Things Are

How do you take a story that is ten sentences long and adapt it to film and turn it into something that’s watchable? You give it to Spike Jonze and watch in wonder as he runs away with the concept and provides us all with something that is not only watchable but an outright masterpiece on film. This isn’t just some adaptation of a book, it’s not just some other movie, it’s special.

Where The Wild Things Are- to strip it completely down to it’s essence- is a story about our insecurities and growing up. Based on the book by Maurice Sendak, it tells the story of Max, a little boy with a lively imagination who can’t seem to consistently get what he needs; just a little comfort. He wants to play and yet no one who wants to play back. His sister Claire has distanced herself and is getting older and this scares Max. Max runs around like a wild animal in his homemade wolf costume being about as physical and insane as a creative and active kid can. Eventually Max’s antics and difficulties expressing his feelings properly lead to an incident in which he bites his mother in a rage. Instead of being sent to his room as it is in the book, Max runs away and off into the woods leading to his imaginary trip to see the Wild Things.

Upon visiting the Wild Things, he is declared King and quickly promises that he will end sadness and bring nothing but peace and happiness to their world. The Wild Things are just big children and are essentially split parts of Max and the people he knows and loves in the real world. I’m not really going to go any further into the intricacies of the character interaction because to watch it happen and unfold so gently and beautifully on the screen is an experience I haven’t had this year until this movie. The film hits on such a wide range of emotions it’s amazing. It pulls them all out of you and at no point will you be disinterested nor will your brain be somewhere else. It’s all alive and up there in front of you and inviting you in to share in the experience and perhaps even take a look at yourself in the process.

Everything from the visual effects, to the art direction, the voice acting, to the music- it is all superbly executed. James Gandolfini is excellent as the unofficial leader of the wild things, Carol. There’s something about the man’s voice that just exudes this warmth and love; you forget that the guy played a gangster for a living for 8 years. Chris Cooper as Carol’s best friend Douglas is also outstanding, as well as the rest of the cast which includes Lauren Ambrose as KW, Catherine O’Hara, and Forest Whitaker. There is an art to voice acting- simply reading words on a page is not enough. These actors all do a fantastic job and are instrumental in making you fall in love with the wild things.

The young one that plays Max (Max Records) was terrific. The amount of nuance he was able to inject into his character was pretty awesome and was generally pitch perfect throughout the movie. I’ve never heard of the kid before, and I am definitely impressed. Having to act with a bunch of big hairy imaginary beasts must have been sort of a dream come true though. I can’t imagine it being anything but pure fun.

The visual effects of the wild things themselves, which consists of actual physical animatronic suits created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop are jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Facial CGI animation integrated with these suits was absolutely flawless, and reinforces the old ‘less CGI is always better’ argument. There is not a moment on screen where you will cringe, or question the craftsmanship. It’s all extremely well done and you have no choice but to just lose yourself in the undeniable beauty of the entire world that has been created here.

The soundtrack was provided by Karen O and the Kids, and the score is done by Carter Burwell. The second I got home I loaded both of them on my PC (thank you Zune Pass!) and am enjoying them all over again. There really is a sense of touch in the score which magnificently outlines the mood and the feelings of each and every person and wild thing in the film. Karen O, from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, provides the soundtrack and it lends itself well to the film and is the perfect companion to the score. It’s sort of like a kid’s version of an indie soundtrack. It’s playful and noisy and fun and is totally unique. It’s a welcome change to the usual garbage that gets crammed into children’s movies today.

Spike Jonze has done the impossible here and thrown all of himself on the screen. He’s not hiding behind the book in any way, but rather showing you that this is indeed his movie. And yet at the same time it’s not entirely blatant. The man does have a very distinctive style which just so happens to fit perfectly into this universe. The seamless integration of hisweird head and Maurice Sendak’s little book is a work of genius and is going to be loved for a long, long time.

It’s almost as if Spike Jonze was meant to do this movie all along. After all of the obstacles it has faced, I’m happy to see that he persevered and was able to forge something this breathtaking out of a book that is so small. You would think that expanding such a tiny book into something that is an hour and a half in length would be agonizing, but the movie just feels right. If I had a single complaint, it would be that it almost felt like it was over too soon, but I know that’s just me personally being selfish. I’m just a big kid who didn’t ever want it to end.

Recent posts by Adam

• The Other Guys - August 10th, 2010
• Trailer: Jackass 3D - August 6th, 2010
• Dinner For Schmucks - August 3rd, 2010
• The Avengers Have Assembled - July 25th, 2010
• Trailer: Dexter Season 5 - July 24th, 2010

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz