Lauren Sliva“Where the Wild Things Are” brought in $32.7 million on its opening weekend in United States movie theaters. The film is adapted from the classic children’s book, written by Maurice Sendak in 1963.
The almost perfect live-action adaption of the book was directed by Spike Jonze and was released in theaters everywhere on Oct. 16.
Unlike the children’s novel, the film version of the story is geared toward an older audience.
The tone of the movie is a lot darker than the book was, with the narrative extremely to the point.
The movie starts off with a little, happy-go-lucky boy named Max who sometimes feels like people do not understand him as best as they could. In the beginning of the movie, he bites his mother after a confrontation in front of her boyfriend and makes an attempt to run away. His attempt becomes successful when he makes a run for it into the forest, and he stumbles upon a boat.
The journey begins when the boat sets sail into the darkness and arrives on a deserted island, or so he thought. He sees a bunch of strange creatures, ones that he has never seen before, creatures that are called “wild things.”
Surprisingly enough, when Max meets the “wild things” he is not frightened. He approaches them with a great deed of courage; this is when he starts to tell them lies. He tells the “wild things” that they cannot eat him because he has magical powers, and that he was the king of his land where he came from. The “wild things” believe him and make him king of the island.
“The movie was really cute. It evolved from the book without making it too cheesy. I can’t wait to see it again,” Maureen Hammond, sophomore biology major, said.
Apparently, many people agreed, since it had a $53.5 million gross income after two weeks in theaters.
The journey does not stop there though. Max and the “wild things” experience exciting adventures over the course of their time together. The movie differs from the book because it is less about the child, and more about being a child.
“It was the best movie I have seen in awhile and it made me want to be a kid again. When my friends dragged me to see it, I thought I was going to hate it, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised,” Megan Hawkinson, sophomore education major, said.
The crowd-pleasing movie adaption also uses unique style, music and costumes. “Where the Wild Things Are,” is a must see movie of 2009.
