Let me get this out of the right from the start: I barely remember anything at all about the book Where the Wild Things Are. I vaguely remembering reading it as a kid, and I remember not really "getting it." After that, I've mostly ignored it and the most interaction I've had with it is seeing the cover in the kids' section whenever I visit the bookstore (which is something I like to do quite often). All that to say I'm not really a fan of the book, and I have no affection or nostalgia for the book, so my review of the movie version of Where the Wild Things Are is completely based upon the merits of the movie alone. I'm not critiquing whether or not this is a faithful adaptation of the book, I'm just telling you whether or not this movie is any good... which it isn't.

First off, here's what I liked about the movie. Visually, this movie is a real treat and a triumph of using practical effects over CG. I'm sure CG monsters were suggested as the easy solution for this film, but I'm glad they didn't go that route. Using actual creatures and characters gives the movie a very gritty feeling as opposed to using slick, clean CG. The monsters are all very Henson-eque in their design and function, and I loved their look. I was also impressed at the range of emotion on display in their faces. I spent a big chunk of this movie trying to figure out how the special effects and creature designers pulled all of this off (mainly because I didn't have anything better to do). The movie very much captures the visual aesthetic of the book (at least judging by the image on the cover), and is a visual treat in its own right.

The rest of the film, however, doesn't fare nearly as well. It's a tedious, relentlessly monotonous, melancholy film. When I summed up the story for my wife—little boy doesn't get his way, throws a fit and runs off to an island filled with monsters; on the island of monsters everyone fights and bickers and generally is pretty miserable, and then the boy decides to go home and his mom gives him chocolate cake—she said that's pretty much how the book went. Well, not really remembering the book, I had a hard time trying to figure out why people would enjoy such a story. There's no lesson learned, the boy never apologizes for treating his mother horribly in his selfish fit, the time spent with the monsters is rather depressing (I had no idea monsters could be so petty, selfish, and annoying in how they bicker and fight with each other), and I left the movie trying to figure out what the point of it all was. If it was to make me feel moody, depressed, and discontent, then I suppose it accomplished that goal, but I'm not sure why anyone would pay money to see a movie to make them feel that way.

The main message of the film seems to be that everything in life will ultimately disappoint you. Max is disappointed with his sister and her friends, then he's disappointed with his mom not paying attention to him; the monsters are disappointed when things don't go their way, they are disappointed when Max can't deliver on his promises. It's just all very disappointing. In fact, much of what happens with Max and the monsters is an allegory of how many people feel about God. The monsters make Max their king, and as their king they expect him to make sadness and loneliness go away. The king is to make everything happen just they way they want and to just generally make everything in life better. When the monsters' own bitterness, self-centeredness, and pettiness gets in the way of that, they decide that the king must not really be a king and the only solution is to eat him. That's exactly how we treat God.

For some reason, there's this expectation that if God is king, then everything in life will go just the way we want. God as king will always make us happy, things will always go our way, and we'll never be disappointed ever again. Now I'll grant you there are some so-called Christians who certainly paint that picture of God, and it's a dangerous picture to paint. What happens when God doesn't live up to those expectations? What happens when God disappoints us? That disappointment can often cause us to want to eat God up in atheism, agnosticism, and scientific rationale. After all, being random products of nothingness is better than having a God who disappoints you.

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