Jonze’s inspired evocation of childhood may strike a chord with adults; for younger audience members still living it, the appeal is far from certain.
Comment
12/11/09
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
73
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:232
Fresh:169
Rotten:63
Average Rating:6.9/10
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 3, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $75,789,686
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
21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Not as easy or airbrushed as Potter, Ice Age, or Narnia then, but with its darkness, loneliness, and wonder, it might be the most honest kids' film of the year.
12/11/09
A poignant dissection of youth with nine-foot furry monsters, gorgeous production design, frenetic camerawork and a playful, wistful score from Karen O. Never mind the little ones. This beauty will have most grown-ups blubbing.
12/11/09
In some respects, Jonze is the geek who never grew up: and with Where The Wild Things Are, he reminds us that the simple pleasure of childhood is running around and screaming with abandon.
12/11/09
[Jonze's] take on Maurice Sendak's much-loved children's book does offer plenty of wildness and wackiness, although it's also unusually sombre.
12/11/09
Jonze has created one of the most offbeat, original and interesting films of the year. It's just a pity he didn't make it more accessible for children - and remove it a lot farther from the therapist's couch.
12/11/09
The effects are spot-on, little Max Records is ace as the story's boisterous nine-year-old hero while the film mostly avoids the treacle that mars so many kids' pics.
12/11/09
Whereas many child actors make you feel a little bit sick, Records is astounding in the lead role.
12/11/09
Shouldn’t therapy, at least in art for or about childhood, be fun? The book was entrancing. The book deserved better. Happily there is still time, before the world ends, for someone else to film it. For now: return to Sendak.
12/11/09
I have no idea what Jonze and Eggers are trying to say here, either to children or to adults, but it's difficult to imagine how they could have made a more tedious and exasperating attempt at it.
12/11/09
It’s hard to conclude this is a film for children but it will provide any adult with a bittersweet reminder of childhood’s distant joys and woes.
12/11/09
It is one of those films that reveals the power of film itself, and you can feel delighted that this beautiful story, with its oddness and its great capacity for wonder, has survived in a perfect way the transition to screen.
12/11/09
His visualisation is a joy on the eyeballs.
12/11/09
The script is brilliant, lacing the dialogue with dark, melancholy humour and subtly ensuring that almost every line, visual or action on the island echoes something from Max's real life.
12/11/09
Jonze's inventive approach to Maurice Sendak's classic children's book continually confounds our expectations with an approach that's so offhanded and fresh that it might feel awkward or strange. But it's a real grower.
12/11/09
From that belting opening shot to the emotional gut- punch of an ending, I was bewitched by it. In fact, Wild Things... I think I love you.
12/11/09
This is filmmaking hard-wired straight to the heart: wild, untamed and quite, quite brilliant.
12/11/09
This is how you make a kids film...
12/10/09
A gloomy, self-conscious art movie version of the children's book that received the benediction of the author which should tell you something about the dubious value of the source material.
12/07/09
...a total collapse of coherent storytelling--disconnected scenes of running, jumping, throwing, thrashing, and destroying interspersed with languid stretches of navel gazing (read: moping).
12/06/09
Latest News for Where the Wild Things Are
December 11, 2009:
The Effects of Where the Wild Things Are
Spike Jonze's eagerly-anticipated adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are was initially supposed to use entirely practical effects, but the director soon... More...
December 07, 2009:
Exclusive: The World of Where the Wild Things Are
It has taken Being John Malkovich and Adaptation director Spike Jonze more than five years to bring Where the Wild Things Are to the big screen. Maurice Sendak, the writer and... More...
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...
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