Where the Wild Things Are

A review on IMDB claims

"You will never see boyhood captured as truthfully on film as it is in the film's first 20 minutes."

  Maybe this is the idea that disturbed me most about the film.  Max is all over the place!  I've often said I don't think I'd be up for the challenge of raising boys.  I can think of a handful of my friends who all have little boys (who of course are all doing a wonderful job), so I think it's fair for me to plan for girls to help even out the ratio...  Genetics seem to be in my favor - there are only 2 boys among my 13 cousins.  I'll take gossip and pouting over fights and destruction any day.

The actor who plays Max is adorable and I think they did a decent job of making the monsters.  It was the desctruction and violence and angst they added that I didn't like.  It's no longer a fanciful journey to a place where it's always party time, now it's a story about an angry young boy surrounded by unpredictable, immature, emotionally volatile creatures who will hug you one minute and rip another's arm off the next.  I didn't leave the theater wanting to frolic and play, I left disturbed by the many ways people can hurt each other (physically and emotionally).  Reading articles about the film you come across the statement that this isn't a children's film, it's a film about children.  As another review on IMDB explains,

"These beasts are the manifestations of our sorrow, our frustration, and our demons; they are the voices living within us, kept down by self-control and overcome by happiness and love. However, when those emotions are brought to life, unchecked, the end result can be nothing short of war, retribution, and malice."

  How is this a recipe for anything but a rather dark movie?

In short, I'd have to agree with the following reviewer:

"It's an interesting concept, turning a children's book into Freud 101, but is seems dark and oppressive. I realize Sendak's book was visually dark, but emotionally is was vibrant and happy, much like the melody to "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire that was used in the trailer. Unfortunately, this film desperately fails to be vibrant and happy, and for a movie based on a children's book that many parents will take their children to see, it's a major flaw. "