This is going to be divisive. I know that because my friend with whom I saw it found it boring and dumb, said the kids in the audience were bored (true) and compared it to our standard for bad movie choices in the recent past, which is I Heart Huckabees.
I, on the other hand, quite liked it. It's an odd one alright, more a purely visual art movie than any sort of kids movie. The main character is a kid and it is devoid of sex and violence, but it is essentially plotless. I don't imagine many kids would really like it.
It is a sort of exploration of a mental journey taken by a kid with a lot of issues. The wild things are certainly projections of various parts of himself and his life.
The journey is oblique and ambiguous. One of the aspects I like about a movie is when things are left open to interpretation, and such movies are rare. This is one of them. What happens? What do the wild things represent? Why do two stunned owls cause so much turmoil? Conventional answers are not given. I can understand why this would put off many. But I enjoy having something to chew on, having things left open.
The creatures and their land are visualized and voiced beautifully.
When the biggest plot element is a dirt clod fight, you know this is not for everyone. But for art movie types, it's a good fall release.
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Topic - where the wild things are - tunenut 20:05:34 10/21/09 (7)
- I just saw it today with my family... - mkuller 21:18:11 10/25/09 (0)
- I'm guessing it helps if you are a fan of the book - Jack G 07:49:11 10/22/09 (1)
- I just read it for the first time this week... - mkuller 18:33:34 10/22/09 (0)
- a sincere attempt and beautiful in many ways - PhilJ 21:54:48 10/21/09 (0)
- The critics have... - mkuller 21:14:14 10/21/09 (1)
- The reviews were mixed. Many raves indeed but some real rants as well. - sjb 21:52:06 10/21/09 (0)
- The director said - sjb 20:13:55 10/21/09 (0)