Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Max Records, James Gandolfini, Lauren Ambrose
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 King, though he soon longs to be back home with his family.
Flixster Users
Critics
PG, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed by:
Spike Jonze
Release Date: Oct 16, 2009
Your Rating
Your Friends' Ratings
No recent reviews.
Flixster User Reviews
im intrigued as to how the fantastic writer and director Spike Jonze will convert a 10 page long children's picture book into a satisfying film, i guess we'll just have to wait and see
It looks cool but I 'm gesing there not having the scery ending in the book were the monster's turn on him and chas him back to his bed that bit all ways skared me :(
Please tell me this is the greatest movie of all time or my sensibilities will feel like a bunch of axe-wielding psychos reversed their SUV over my childhood.
Critic Reviews
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
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, and it's low on thrills.full review
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 tiresome after a while.full review
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
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 as Max sees it, full of beauty and terror.full review
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 exuberance and also its confusion and gloom.full review
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
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
The most daring kid's-movie adaptation since Altman's still-avant-garde Popeye from 1980.full review
Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.
Cast
Showtimes Near You
More Like This
No recent suggestions.
Where the Wild Things Are Videos
Bookmark This App
Make it easy to check out new movies! Click +Bookmark Movies at the bottom of your screen.
- Get Flixster
- iPhone (free!)
- Myspace
- Flixster.com
- iGoogle
- Settings
- Profile Settings
- My Account
- Help










