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"Where the Wild
Things" are is Spike Jonze's take on the
classic children's
book. Instead of
being the somewhat
straight forward
story that the book
is, Jonze's movie is
a movie for older
kids and pre-teens
with layers of
emotions and depth.
In Jonze's movie Max
is a troubled kid.
He's got it rough at
home. His sister is
growing up and no
longer thinks it's
cool to hang out
with her little
brother. She's
distant with him and
she's running with a
typical group of
teenagers. Max's mom
is a single mother
that is pressed for
time and trying to
keep her job. She's
got a full plate
with Max and his
sister but she also
has a ton of things
to do with work and
she apparently tries
to date a little
too. Between
everything that she
has going on she
doesn't have a whole
lot of time to pay
attention to Max.
Max himself is a
troubled kid but a
somewhat normal kid
too. He's got
friends at school
that he plays with,
he does some
ill-advised things,
but he's also got a
good heart and he
tries to
do the right thing.
When Max has a rough
day it caps off when
his mother and him
get into a huge
fight, Max storms
out of the house
finds a mysterious
boat and sails off
to the island where
the wild things
live. Max is greeted
on the island with
some hostility but
with some smooth
talking he convinces
the creatures that
he's a powerful king
who knows powerful
magic. They adopt
him as their leader
and Max has a crazy
adventure on the
island where the
wild things are
until he takes his
boat back home.
Jonze's story is
remarkable. There's
so much emotion to
what he captures on
film. Instead of a
straight-forward
here's what's
happening approach
he adds a dynamic to
Max that's not
thought of during
the story. Max just
isn't a kid on a
tantrum. He's a kid
with real life
problems who's
having a hard time
with his current
plight in life.
Millions of kids can
relate to Max's
situation in this
movie and it's good
that Jonze decided
to tell this type of
story. Max is played
remarkably by
Max Records. This
is this kid's first
movie and he really
has the potential to
be a star. He
carries the movie
with the creatures
and when he's a brat
you think of him as
a brat and when he's
a compassionate
little kid you see
him as such too.
Records is
remarkable.
Jonze's story might
be a little too
grown up for younger
audiences though.
The Wild Things are
great when you get
to know them but
they can also be
incredibly scary in
the movie. They're
violent and hostile
and a couple of
scenes in the movie
are a little too
scary for kids under
six.
"Where
the Wild Things Are"
isn't just an
adaptation from
Maurice Sendak's
book. It's
Jonze's version of
the story. It's
a movie that pre-teen
kids who're going
through some of the
same things that Max
is can relate to and
it really can help
kids who don't quite
know their place in
the world, cope with
that fact.
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