Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:190
Fresh:134
Rotten:56
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: Some may find its dark tone and slender narrative off-putting, but Spike Jonze's heartfelt adaptation of the classic children's book is as beautiful as it is uncompromising.
Australian Rating: TBC
Genre: Childrens
Australian Theatrical Release:
Dec 10, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $74,665,359
Synopsis: Innovative director Spike Jonze collaborates with celebrated author Maurice Sendak to bring one of the most beloved books of all time to the big screen in “Where the Wild Things Are,” a classic... [More]
Starring: Paul Dano, Forest Whitaker, Mark Ruffalo, Catherine Keener
Director: Spike Jonze
Reviews for Where the Wild Things Are
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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This film is not for me, but I do recognise its accomplishments and see how it appeals to the fan base, and how the young Max's journey connects with youngsters Full Review |
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A wildly mixed bag. With its mix of live action, computer animation and puppetry, there is plenty that is wonderful, yet there are some irritating aspects. Like the manic hand-held camera. However, young Max Records' performance is sensational Full Review |
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7/10 |
A heartfelt expression of the blacks, whites, and greys of childhood emotions as Jonze understands it, and he does deserve credit for presenting them with an ugly realism. Full Review |
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4.5/5 |
I think it's brave and smart and expects its audience to be the same: it refuses to spoonfeed what it's doing to anyone. Full Review |
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A- |
Wild Things might have been just another crass cartoon. Most filmmakers would have made the monsters' wild rumpus the film's raison d'être. Instead, Jonze and Eggers have crafted a poetic, personal interpretation. Full Review |
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Feelings of loss and frustration, acted out so loudly, raucously, and repeatedly, are at the center of Where the Wild Things Are. Full Review |
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 2/5 |
Occasionally I will mitigate opinions when I reviewing a film I know carries an emotional charge for people... to impart a sense of fairness. This is not one of those times. Where The Wild Things Are made me want to punch someone in the face. Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
The emotionality that is aspired to doesn't rise to the occasion and leaves you as deprived of dramatic nourishment as the poor boy who went to bed without his supper. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
Jonze creates perhaps the most artful film aimed at children since The Red Balloon, and one with unusually deep emotional resonance. Full Review |
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Jonze's choice to once again drain the color from the film and use hand-held camera amidst the surreal is what gives Where the Wild Things Are a strange naturalism different from all other films that tend to be aimed at children. Full Review |
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A- |
The book is about anger, while the film is as much about sadness. Here is a film broken-hearted over the messiness of the world. It is sad, and beautiful, and true. Full Review |
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When it's over you just want to sit there and sigh for awhile then go home and have a cup of tomato soup and a grilled cheese and be tucked into bed and cry yourself to sleep. As long as mom is nearby. Full Review |
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3.0/4.0 |
Odd pacing nearly trips up Wild Things. Full Review |
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3/4 |
In many respects, a creative triumph. The film is visually stunning, and the writing is equally fresh. Full Review |
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What stays with you is the sadness. There's an almost unbearable undertow of melancholy in director Spike Jonze's awkward, arty adaptation of Maurice Sendak's 1963 picture book. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
Jonze and Eggers do an admirable, and at times alchemic, job of transforming the slim volume into something decidedly weightier in terms of plot without sacrificing the essence of the book's focus on the darker edges of childhood Full Review |
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6/10 |
The fact that Jonze and Eggers are revealing so much of themselves in this emotionally crabbed tribute to the unending hell of childhood is itself reason to see the film. Full Review |
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They're all militantly dreary, like a Prozac-starved version of the seven dwarfs. (There's Lugubrious, Needy, Fretful, Disconsolate, Remorseful...) Full Review |
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4.5/5 |
Charming, affecting and heartbreaking. It could have gone wrong in any number of ways, but never does Full Review |
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An intimate epic, Jonze's film is nearly unique among modern kid fare for its total lack of condescension to the core audience. Full Review |
CommentLatest News for Where the Wild Things Are
November 22, 2009:
Win A Signed Where the Wild Things Are Poster
It's one of 2009's most anticipated films -- director Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's kids' classic, Where the Wild Things Are -- and it's almost, at long last,... More...
October 18, 2009:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Audiences Eat Up Wild Things
Three new releases hit the multiplexes while one indie sensation expands nationally hoping to strike gold and shake up the establishment. Leading the charge is the family film... More...
October 15, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Where the Wild Things Are Is A Wild Rumpus
This week, we've got a wild rumpus (Where the Wild Things Are, starring Max Records and Catherine Keener), a legal skirmish (Law Abiding Citizen, starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard... More...
October 08, 2009:
Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze's oft-delayed kiddies movie finally makes it to the big screen! 
More...
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