I almost hate to say it, but Where The Wild Things Are is one of the worst movies I have seen this year. I pretty much hated it. Oddly, I can see how others might have liked it. To some extent I feel that way with most films. There is almost nothing that is 100% ALL bad. However, it doesn't happen very often where I can hate a movie as much as this one and still respect the opinion of a person that liked it. Arbitrary rating of 2 out of 10 for this one. I had this film on my shelf for a month before I finally sat my wild rumpus down to watch it. I still wasn't really in the mood to see it, I just felt so bad about keeping it that long that I had to pop it in and give it a whirl. The first bit was quite entertaining. I liked Max in the real world, and thought his character had potential. As soon as he went off to fantasy land the whole thing fell apart. The introductions of the beasties was awkward. Most everything that happened felt random and pointless. It was almost impossible to sit through. I realize the wild things represented different aspects of Max's personality and all that crap, but it just wasn't interesting or good in my opinion. If you liked the movie, that is fine, but I would enjoy hearing your reasons. The only way it got a 2 was the beginning part.
I am going to go off on a bit of a tangent. The only movie I hated more than Where The Wild Things Are this year was The Blind Side. Even The Blind Side was more entertaining to watch than the boring waste of time I spent with the wild things. Even though it was totally stupid, there was a dumb-ass mindless hillbilly type of appeal to The Blind Side. However, both of these film are in some way works of art. The Blind Side is a "true" story that is being put on screen. Wild Things is based on a very short book. It was adapted into a full film. Granted, it sucked, but still, that is quite an accomplishment.
Who am I to sit here and criticize something that others have worked so hard on? I've never done anything. I just sit on my couch and watch movies, then I sit in a chair and write about them. I must be quite a prick to go out of my way to create a site in order to allow others to read my opinion. When we watch a film why do we even care what other people think about it? It should only matter how we felt as we were watching it. Yet as soon as its over we have to talk about it and figure out what other people thought of it. We want somebody to validate our opinion, or at least help us better formulate one.
Film is art. That is for sure. But it is different. Film is totally accessible. Everybody watches movies. When we watch them we feel as if we own them just a little bit. We feel like it is our right to complain about a plot point, or nitpick a character arc. I don't look at a painting and immediately start to criticize brush strokes that I feel should go at a different angle. Why not? Cause I can't paint. Well, I can't make movies either, but I feel just fine about tearing them apart when I don't like them. When we connect with a movie we feel like it is ours to either elevate or bash into the ground. Film inspires us to think, converse, and argue. That is what is so great about the movies.
If I were given the book Where The Wild Things Are and told that I had to make a movie about it I would have no clue where to start. The finished product wouldn't be more than 10 minutes long and would undoubtedly suck. Yet, I am going to sit here and tell you that the actual movie was no good at all. The plotting was mess, and the characterizations were completely uninteresting. It lasted too long. I wouldn't recommend it.
Filed Under: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy