Max is a spoiled brat. No real plot to hold your interest for the freaking hour or more that they show you scenes of building a fort, throwing dirt, knocking down trees and having group hugs. I’m sorry but I can only take that for so long before I start thinking, “okay…is this story going to go anywhere? anything more interesting than this?” Oh, and the moody, passive aggressive bipolar monsters were really aggravating. I understand that the director was trying to go for a whole psychological thing that was a reflection of Max’s personality….but if he was going to do that, i think he should have shown more direct relationships to it in Max’s real life instead of just having it be as it is with the viewer going, man, wtf are these monsters so bitchy for?

The movie was a great idea with a lot of potential. I just think the delivery of that idea made it very difficult and tedious to watch…..and no, I don’t consider myself someone with a particularly low attention span. It was just seriously cumbersome to endure. The book is 100 times better. Of course.

@ INK

No worries

I agree that it wasn’t a kids movie but they marketed it for kids, therefore kids were going to be there. I was actually a little nervous in parts of the film worried what my daughters reaction to some of the content. She got scared once, but overall she was OK and liked it.

BTW sorry for the last post, after re-reading it today it sounded kinda “jerkish” didn’t mean for that to be the case.

I remember reading this book as a kid. I liked the artwork and it was cool how the kids dreamworld changed his bedroom at night. But I knew they would take it down the Golden Compass path,,,

I disagree,I really don’t think it was a kids movie.The themes presented are just to veiled and a bit much for a 5 year old to grasp.Maybe 10 years old and older would “get” it(with a bit of deciphering from their parents),but I don’t see kids younger than that(all the kids I saw in the theater were definitely younger than that) really getting what’s actually going on in this movie other than a kid running around an island with a bunch of talking monsters.There’s obviously way more than that going on here.

I know that there were a few scenes that elicited a seemingly uncomfortable silence from the younger crowd.I could tell that the dirt clod fight didn’t go over too well and neither did the scene where KW helped Max hide from Carol(don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet).Just because it was based on a children’s book doesn’t necessarily mean that the movie is meant for kids as well(when I say kids,I’m talking about those under the age of 12).

Uhhh … it’s a kids movie, you should have expected kids to be there. If you wanted to see it without little kids go to the “after 9:00 showing.”

@Vic

Saw it today with the wife and daughter. I liked it a lot. Probably not one I’ll buy, but it was enjoyable. My daughter also liked it a lot. She thought it was funny. I thought they did an excellent job conveying emotion through the creatures.

There were just a few too many kids in the theater talking and carrying on for my liking.Those parents should’ve taken them to see something more appropriate,like Cloudy With A Chance Of Meat Balls,that way the movie would have been more enjoyable,and those talkative kids would’ve enjoyed that movie more.

We wrote a full review of the film from a parents’perspective right here: http://www.fivehens.com/where-the-wild-things-are-movie-review/