Bill and I went to see Where the Wild Things are last night. I've been excited to see it for so long, especially since I saw the first magical trailer months ago. I may have set my expectations too high, or the movie may have missed the mark a bit, but I came away from it feeling a little let down.
The visuals were beautiful, as you can imagine. I think they did a great job of showing Max's perspective throughout. Both his home environment and the land of the wild things were completely believable and inspiring. It is really incredible how they brought the wild things to life.
The movie focuses on the themes of loneliness and alienation throughout. There was plenty of crazy roughhousing and shenanigans with Max and the wild things, but there wasn't much positivity or warmth. The wild things seemed a little too sad. Bill said there needed to be a few more sweet and snugly moments, and I agree.
The main issue for me is that it really isn't a kid's movie. Definitely a little dark and scary for the preschool crowd, but even elementary kids may not connect with the story. Maybe the cool setting and creatures would be enough to entertain them, I'm not sure.
That said, I am glad that I saw it and I do recommend it. If you love the book and you would like to see the movie, definitely go see it while it is on the big screen! I'd love to hear what anyone else who has seen it thought.
I am completely in line with your thoughts. It seemed like it might be a little "over the heads" of children as far as driving home the messages, but the costumes/CGI was amazing. What a fabulous story and I love that they kept the story authentic and used several of the most popular lines from the book. Hope you're having fun at Disney!
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