Let the wild rumpus start!

Porter loves the book Where the Wild Things Are.  For the past week we've read it nearly every day.  I knew the movie had came out a few months ago but we still hadn't seen it.  I had heard mixed reviews on it and decided to research it a little more before watching it with Porter.  I checked out Common Sense Media and Kids in Mind and also googled it.  Many of the reviews were very negative and said the movie was incredibly violent, boring and depressing.  Sure, there were a few shining reviews sprinkled throughout but for the most part, it seemed like it was a thumbs down.  I wondered if the reviewers were overprotective or reading more into it than necessary... it IS rated PG and I couldn't imagine violence THAT terrible.  Many reviews said their kids were scared or terrified of the movie.  They talked about the boy being swallowed by one of the wild things, about one of the wild things pulling the arm off another... etc etc.  So, I kind of expected the worst.  However, I decided to give it a try, despite the negative reviews.

And you know what?  I really liked the movie!  And better yet... Porter did too.  The swallowing part?  Not scary IMO... I mean, the wild thing tells him to climb into her stomach to hide.  The arm?  It was an accident and the wild thing who lost an arm was totally cool about it, saying "Awww, that was my favorite arm!" and the next scene you see him with a makeshift stick in place of his arm.  So... in a way I think some of the "scary" parts were overexaggerated, although there was a LOT of screaming and wild behavior (running around, hitting trees with sticks, knocking things down etc...)

Here is my take on it:
Yes, it is kind of depressing.  Max is sad and feeling pushed aside by his busy family.  He acts like a maniac at home and runs away after flipping out on his mom.  The wild things are just quirky.  The entire movie is quirky, which is probably why Porter liked it so much.  He cracked up through many, many parts... like when the one wild thing ran into a tree and fell backwards, or when the wild things made a "real pile" and squished eachother, and when they had a dirt clod fight and one wild thing finds a raccoon and throws it.  Its just so... random.  The movie really reminds me of true boyness... just wild and free spirited and random and silly and mood-swingy.  The movie will go from having a blast and the wild things being rough and tumble to all of a sudden one being hurt, physically or their feelings.  Isn't this exactly what kids do?  They play and get rough and push it to the extreme and it always seems to get taken a tad too far.  Its a rollercoaster of emotions, and many are kind of sad and depressing but we talked throughout the whole movie about what was going on... we tried to ask Porter what he thought was going on, explain things to him that were confusing and see how much he really was understanding.

He's a riot to watch movies with... oh my word.  Ryan and I were busting up because he's one of THOSE people who asks questions every 2.4 seconds.

Mom, where are they going?
Is that the sand dunes where trucks go?
Is that a big dog?
Mom, is the sun big?
Where is his friend going? What's that?
What is that?
Mama, what was that?
What did she do that for?
What's that big round thing?
Where are they?
How is he gonna find his friends?
Why is he leaving?

He loved the big pile part and the dirt rock fight. He said his favorite part was when the big guy threw the raccoon. The belly laughs he had throughout the rock fight part were so contagious!

All in all, I think its a total boy movie... I mean, I think girls would like it but being a mama of some goofball boys I think they can just find the humor in the rough and tumble of it.   It's worth watching... Porter asked to watch it again once it was over.  We settled on reading the book to compare and see what parts are the same.