“I’ll Eat You Up I Love You So”

One day, during one of the many hours I spend at work languidly leaning against the counter a co-worker cleverly dubbed me “Roger Shebert” and I felt that it fit perfectly. It is no surprise then that I purchased the very first ticket to the very first show of Where the Wild Things Are at the Langley Colossus. After driving for 45 minutes and hurriedly collecting my medium popcorn with just a “spritzing” of butter I manage to get my favourite seats (back row, right side) next to absolutely no one (except my delightful cohort Stacey). Just as the movie began a hoard of children piled in right next to me, whispering, bumping, and munching their popcorn. I was pleased to discover that the adorable little gaffer to my left was named Max, the very same name of the central character of WTWTA. Normally I’m not psyched about sitting next to children, they tend to get restless after about half an hour but I was glad to have a gauge of how much children would actually enjoy this movie.
We are first introduced to Max, a little boy rampaging through his house in a wolf suit terrorizing his dog. The scene freezes on Max mid-snarl, jaw agape; this is where the title credit lands, in a child-like scrawl, Where the Wild Things Are. We learn that Max possesses a wild imagination to combat his obvious loneliness. We discover the joy he possesses at school amongst his peers, a camaraderie that is blatantly missing from his life at home. Max longs for the attention of his indifferent older sister and his overworked single mother and in this dejected state he becomes a “wild thing” and further alienates those he wishes to connect with. It is this transformation that allows Max to enter the world where the wild things are.
Spike Jonze fleshed out the Wild Things quite nicely, giving them names and personalities. Catherine O’ Hara is amazing as the sceptical, sarcastic and opinionated Judith. Paul Dano is Alexander, the always unnoticed, under-dog of the group. The dopey, slow and loveable Ira is played by Forest Whittaker. Ever present and never speaking is The Bull played by Michael Barry Jr. The feathered, level headed Douglas is acted by Chris Cooper. My two personal favourites were K.W played by Lauren Ambrose and James Gandolfini’s Carol. K.W is mature, quiet and nurturing. Carol is rambunctious and boisterous but also stormy and petulant.
When Max meets the Wild Things, they are discontent and melancholy. They exist as a group but they are disconnected from one another. Max lies to them and insists that he is a King and he can keep the sadness away. Initially his promises bring jubilation and joviality and Max discovers a clan where he can comfortably let his inner Wild Thing out. But the movie continually evokes the old saying, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt” and the flipside to that wild abandon is revealed as competition, aggression and malcontent arises from their game playing. Max incites his legion to build a fort and we discover that each of the Wild Things has a specific talent such as: construction, breaking and collecting sticks, putting holes in things, smashing rocks, cutting trees. Jonze seems to be saying that the sadness can never be kept away but although each of the Wild Things is broken in their own way, they equal a whole, almost like a family. This discovery allows Max to mend his own broken heart (literally) and appreciate his own fragmented family.
The setting of this film is exquisite in its simplicity. The gigantic forests, the craggy rocky cliffs, the vast desert sand dunes and the wild ocean are all awe inspiring in their beauty. The lighting of the dark nights, the bright sun, the torrential rains and the break of dawn is absolutely captivating. Perfectly matched is the soundtrack created by Karen O. of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs which inspires child-like wonder through its impulsive, liberated and simplistic style paired with children’s choirs. I’m so glad that Jonze decided to use actors in 6-foot suits created by the Jim Hensen Company because I believe it is important for actors to interact with one another. The costumes allowed them to have texture and movement that CG could not create effectively.
The kids sitting next to me did not get restless throughout the film; they seemed transfixed by the movie. The younger children in the theatre did start talking and movie around and I think they found some scenes frightening and the emotional scenes very sad. I would not suggest going into this film expecting a massive action packed plot or fantastical over expressive settings because Jonze preserved the simplicity of the book in both arenas. Let’s all remember that the book is about a kid who gets sent to bed without dinner, crosses the sea to where the wild things are, has a wild rumpus, sends the wild things to bed without supper and returns home to find his supper still warm; it doesn’t get more simplistic than that. The viewers and the critics seemed pretty evenly divided on this movie but I’m going to go ahead and jump on the YAY side of the reviews and say that it is one of the best adaptations of a children’s book I have seen in a very long time.