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Where The Wild Things Are - 2009

Unpredictably, this movie was anything but illustrious for me.  I finally watched the film that many people have suggested I watch, believing that it is my "type" of movie (maybe I should start reassessing myself...).  The movie starts off obnoxiously as it introduces a very uniquely cute boy with seemingly animalistic tendencies screaming, no...roaring as he races down the stairs after a shaggy dog. We can already tell he is a troubled little man.  Honestly, I liked how the movie started; very innocent, very perky, and has the making for a true indie-fantasy film.  I found myself sympathizing with the boy as he subtly reveals his secret desire to be accepted.  The desire is disguised in an anecdote he tells to his mother. So far so good. Later on, the story's charm slips away and becomes muffled by melancholy inhabitants with hirsute human faces (though of course it closely resembles the illustrations in the storybook). These monsters are what dries out the air in this movie.  They are void of deep emotions and drone on in their depressing stupor.

If this movie was introduced as a children's movie (like Fievel Goes West, even then, the plot was pretty attractive)  then fine..it's simple plot will suffice for younger viewers.  However, because the movie boasts of its mature issues and dark characters, it should have delivered to an adult audience as well.  But it failed to do so.  Instead, the movie came out looking like a colorless Sesame Street episode. There are movies that are called "sleepers", meaning they have low expectations in the beginning but in the end draws a large approving audience.  Then there are the "confusers" (my personal term)...and they are the ones that sadly are stuck between two kinds of audiences. Where the Wild Things Are is too scary and daunting for a young child who enjoyed the picture book.  But the movie is too inconsistent and puppet-like to appeal to an adult. I understand that this movie is not suppose to have the same sugar-coated presentation like the Chronicles of Narnia or many other Disney movies.  But even sad movies must have some kind of a quirk or an "umph" of some kind to distinguish it from many other scripts...or else we might as well watch a documentary on depression.  

The movie's folly was that it introduced many psychological problems throughout the story that you expect some epiphany-invoking one-liner in the end that would connect everything.  Unless it is some kind of troubling analogy to how our problems in real life have no actual solutions, the fact that the story's conflict never resolves in the end is very disappointing.  Wait, backtrack...what was the conflict again?  Exactly. But now now, let's not be too pessimistic.  Despite my disdain for the overall movie, the music was refreshingly original and definitely conveyed the ambiance that the movie had failed to create.  I'd say Where the Wild Things Are is a reelistic two stars (the extra star is for the music score).