Quick Review: Where The Wild Things Are

With the transit strike over, I was finally able to get out to see a movie again (without taking a long walk, which would have been good for my health but uncomfortable in poor weather and much too time-consuming). Although "Where The Wild Things Are" has been out for a while now, it ended up being my first post-strike movie. Why? The bus I was waiting for never arrived after 40 minutes of waiting, so I had to take a different route to the mall. (Why is our transit system called SEPTA? Because everyone gets where they're going, SEPTA you.) Thus, I missed out on my initial choice.

I wasn't overly keen on seeing "WTWTA" but it was more interesting than I expected. It's a bit revised and very much fleshed out from the book. Young Max acts out at home, runs away and (in his imagination) makes his way across the ocean to the land of the Wild Things. Upon meeting them, he becomes their king and declares a "wild rumpus." That's pretty much it for the book, but the movie goes beyond that. Each of the creatures has issues, corresponding to the issues Max is dealing with in his life (as seen at the beginning of the movie). So the movie becomes a little psychological study. I'm not sure kids could sit through it -- it's certainly not flashy and loud like so many animated films -- but it held a definite charm. My grade: B-plus.