Max Records, James Gandolfini, Lauren Ambrose, Paul Dano, Catherine O'Hara ...( see more  see more... ) , Forest Whitaker , Chris Cooper , Michael Berry Jr. , Catherine Keener

The adventures of a young boy named Max who, after being sent to bed for misbehaving, imagines that he sails away to where the wild things are. Max is loved by the wild creatures who make him their Ki...( read more  read more... )ng, though he soon longs to be back home with his family.

Flixster Users

67% liked it

230,807 ratings

Critics

73% liked it

232 critics

PG, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: Spike Jonze

Release Date: October 16, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (11,914)


  • December 29, 2009
    "There's one in all of us."

    An adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story, where Max, a disobedient little boy sent to bed without his supper, creates his own world--a forest inhabited by ferocious wild creatures that crown Max as their ruler.

    ...( read more) size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook">REVIEW
    Filmmaker Spike Jonze' valentine to Maurice Sendak's beloved children's classic storybook gets the big-screen treatment big-time (consider the fact the story is literally only a few hundred words!) with co-scripter Dave Eggers, allows the imagination to run wild ? or better yet, "Let's the royal rumpus begin!" ? in this inventive look at childhood personified in the rambunctious ball of energy known as Max (Records nailing the character in all its giddy innocence) who finds himself in another world with monsters/creatures (brilliantly realized by the good folks at Jim Henson Prods.), representing the various stages of being a child (i.e. shyness, boldness, selfishness, etc.) however too much of a good thing eventually peters out by the final act.
  • December 28, 2009
    As a striking example of honing tone and originality, Spike Jonze's interpretation of a childhood longing for pride and status sits high on the list of experimental children's fables. The film is a melancholic, but all-the-while levitating, ponderance of escapism and the need for...( read more) a place in society. It hits all the right notes in the many different facets of what it is to be a child, and the problems experienced in growing up, yet at the end still seems to be facing a slight block. The film's meandering and melancholy qualities can somewhat act as a slight deterrant, with it's creatures impersonal while entertaining. But slight discrepencies aside, Where the Wild Things Are is one of the finer examples of cinema befitting a child's world.
  • December 22, 2009
    After the wonderfully odd and gorgeous trailer I am a little disappointed in the film itself. The look and visual design is really pretty and unique, young Max Records a very talented discovery for the main role. The ending was really sweet and touching, but the middle part had m...( read more)e confused and oddly untouched at times. Somehow I could not relate to the problems and fights the wild things and Max were having, it almost felt like watching a documentary about a dysfunctional family without really getting what their problem is. Most of the images of the film remain unforgettable, I just wished it somehow would have managed to take me on the ride. Instead I was just a witness.
  • December 19, 2009
    Where The Wild Things Are
    Expected: 11 December
    It?s been a loooong time coming, but Spike Jonze seems to think he?s finally cracked his adaptation of Maurice Sendak?s beloved kid book. A boy named Max enters a world of monsters who end up crowning him their king. It?s probably n...( read more)ot for the very little ones, but this darker fantasy should be just the thing for cold winter nights.
    Honestly the best film that I have seen of this year, without hesitation. At first i was weary of seeing this film, I didn't like the idea that it was made from a children's book and that the monsters looked a bit too much like puppets, looking back I now fully realise that you should NEVER judge a book by it's cover. It was honestly an amazing, moving & powerful film. I have never cried at a film since "My sisters keeper" a while ago, I thought this would be the last film that would make me cry. I can honestly not say how much I adored this film, I could really relate to it as well from when I was younger, at the beginning I felt like I was Max, and felt more like him throughout the whole film. If you are considering seeing this movie GO AND SEE IT! You are guaranteed not to be disappointed.
    Look out for: Catherine Keener as Max?s stressed mom
  • December 19, 2009
    This is no kid's film. This is a mature and thoughtful look at the psychology of a child, and also how we come to understand the world and complex emotions around us. Max is a very angry child, he interprets the acts of others as personal attacks on himself. This leads to those h...( read more)e loves pushing him away. Eventually he discovers the Wild Things, a group of monsters that need him to help manage their emotions. Of course, Max soon discovers that sometimes sadness, anger, jealousy and loneliness can't be stopped. It's a wonderful film, filled with fantastic cinematography and wonderful creatures. If it has a drawback, it would be that it's too mature for children to really enjoy. But as an adult, I appreciate the level of detail and slow moments of quiet. Catherine O'Hara's speech on why Max can't be angry at her is one of the all-time brilliant moments in emotional cinema.
  • January 1, 2010
    Jonze pulled this off wonderfully and did well exploring the mind of a remorseful child
  • January 1, 2010
    I did not read the book but watched the movie anyway. I did not care for the movie. to me this was a movie to try to undestand very young kids who act out. I didn't like it. I have seen kids movies. I still watch kids movies. This was the worst kids movie for me that I have seen ...( read more)but if you want to go see it try to ignore this review if you read this book and liked it. Sometime's Critasism should be ignored according to what you like yourself.Judge for yourself.
  • January 1, 2010
    Not everything I was expecting it to be, but it was still good.
  • January 1, 2010
    Yeah once we were a child! Great soundtracks! The child actor is very cute! I did not read the book but i like the scenario. You know It's fantastic. I don't care if it's a good adaptation of the book or not...A movie makes a cardiac massage to the child inside you. Still not too...( read more) late for that little cutie inside you. Watch and let the kid inside smile again.
  • January 1, 2010
    Joyful. Just a great experience

Critic Reviews


December 11, 2009
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

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. F... full review

October 17, 2009
Pete Hammond, Back Stage

Spike Jonze is an original cinematic voice but in the end you just wish he left this on the bookshelf where it belongs. full review

October 16, 2009
Kurt Loder, MTV

The result is a picture of considerable vision (this is a Spike Jonze film), but one that feels still-born. It traipses from one set-piece incident to the next without gathering much imaginative power... full review

October 15, 2009
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

Jonze's ideas, visual and otherwise, spill out in a faux-philosophical ramble that isn't nearly as deep as he thinks it is; at best, it's a scrambled tone poem. Even the look of the picture becomes ti... full review

October 15, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Where the Wild Things Are is a fiercely innovative film with surprising texture and nuance. It captures the joy and exuberance of childhood without shying away from its very real pains and woes. full review

October 15, 2009
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

For all the money spent, the film's success is best measured by its simplicity and the purity of its innovation. Jonze has filmed a fantasy as if it were absolutely real, allowing us to see the world ... full review

October 15, 2009
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

In an era glutted with sanitized, prefabricated, computer-generated kids' stuff, this is an experience of sophisticated cross-generational appeal. It digs deep into childhood's bright, manic exuberanc... full review

October 15, 2009
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Some children, I think, will love this film, some will find it frightening, and some will be bored. Adults, likely, will experience it the same way. full review

October 15, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The plot is simple stuff, spread fairly thin in terms of events but portentous in terms of meaning. It comes down to: What is right? -- a question that children often seek answers to. full review

October 14, 2009
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

A mature, striking exploration of the way that kids feel. full review

October 14, 2009
Armond White, The New York Press

The most daring kid's-movie adaptation since Altman's still-avant-garde Popeye from 1980. full review

October 12, 2009
A.O. Scott, At the Movies

These monsters that are made of costumes with CGI faces and voiced by these wonderful actors, they're just as real and as complicated as the real people. full review

October 12, 2009
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

Instead of being bombarded by computer illusions, we're allowed to suspend our disbelief, to bring our own imaginations into play. For all the artfulness, the feel of the film is rough-hewn, almost pr... full review

View more Where the Wild Things Are reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


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    December 28, 2009
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  • coolmumsie
    December 13, 2009
    feels great ...
  • crazeefrog08
    August 23, 2009
    look's fantastic!:)
  • yodadax
    December 6, 2007
    LOOKS RLY KOOL LUVED THE BOOK WEN I WAZ A WEE LAD!!!!!

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Facts


  • Fun Fact:
    Eric Goldberg (1995's Pocahontas) was at one point attached to direct.

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Where the Wild Things Are Trivia


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