Some parents may decide that this inventive, moody adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved 1963 picture book is too emotional and intense to be a family film. And for some children, they would be right. Director and co-screenwriter (with Dave Eggers) Spike Jonze has expanded on little Max's interaction with the Wild Things in Sendak's book in ways the author may not have imagined (though he has given the film his enthusiastic blessing).
The film reaches a level of realism that other darker children's stories, such as "Coraline" (PG, 2009) don't, because they're animated. Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are" mixes live action, puppetry and animation. The young protagonist is very real indeed, as are his temper tantrums, fears and sadness. What's clever is that all his troubles and personality traits are echoed among the Wild Things he befriends when he enters his imaginary world after a fight with his mom.
This film is okay for most kids 10 and older and certainly interesting stuff for teens and adults. However, it is not for kids who have short attention spans, who find strong, realistically portrayed emotions hard to deal with, or who could be scared into nightmares by the idea of stuffed animals becoming enormous monsters. The film shows the Wild Things at times fighting and hurting one another, and saying hurtful things.
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