Where the Wild Things Are... so disappointed - and I'm sad about that!

[Doe]

It was bad. It was dark, it was slow, it was boring. The colors were bland, the story was muddy, uninteresting and not satisfying. It was scary at parts - enough that I heard several kids say, "I'm scared!" and "This is scary!' I heard an adult yawn and say out oud, "Oh my GOD this is slow."

I have been waiting three years for this... my friend's son had a call back for Max almost three years ago and I have been so excited for this movie. Every preview made me yelp with pleasure. They brought tears to my eyes... I sought out clips on Youtube, became a fan on Twitter.

Man, what a disappointment. It was BORING. The good things (which are contained in roughly 7 minutes of excellent previews) could not make up for the s...l...o...w... ness of it. My daughter asked to go home. I nodded off 2 times (just blink outs).

:::sad:::

[ChrisP]

Wow! Sorry it was so bad, and you had to sit through it. Thanks for the review though. I won't waste my time & money.

Christine

[Dani]

Aw, that is a disappointment. I wondered how they would stretch the story out into a full-length feature. Thanks for sparing the rest of us, anyway.

[jknyc]

I refuse to see it on the same grounds that I refuse to see any movie made of a book I love. It always ruins the book for me. I even hate that I can't avoid the pictures and preview.

But I really wish this were not being marketed to kids. It does not look like a kids' movie, but they've been showing previews during kids' movies.

[Jeannie]

Oh no. I was so looking forward to seeing this. The reviews I have read have been mixed but I was staying optimistic. :-P

[Scout]

Oh no! I've been waiting to see it. I was going to "borrow" the little girl across the street so I would have a kid to bring. Some books are better off being left alone. I feel the same way about "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs".

12yo ds wishes he had never seen "The Outsiders" for the same reason.

[Jeannie]

Oh I LOVED Cloudy. It was so fun. Then again, that book is not quite the mysterious classic that Wild Things is.

[jakIN]

We all loved Cloudy too. My kids would go see it again in a heartbeat. We won't be seeing Wild for the exact reasons mentioned by Doe - it looks dark and boring. Both of my kids said no way after seeing the previews (ages 5 and 11).

[freetibet]

I was wondering how that would translate to film, it's such a short story really and doesn't need anything added or taken away... I don't like to have my books ruined either.

When they did Maurice Sendak's 'I don't care', a story about Pierre and the lion. I think that's the title. Anyway, that was great because basically it was just the book animated a little bit. The music was good, I think Carole King did it all. The reading was good. Here it is on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VkoszKXFZQ

[Kerlin]

Hear, hear! I also refuse to see Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, etc. Don't ruin the pictures we cherish in our minds! Come up with original kid's movies, darn it!

[frits]

oh gosh, I remember being so angry at the end of The Outsiders (or was it That Was Then, This Is Now?) b/c they COMPLETELY CHANGED THE END OF THE BOOK.

I saw that movie 20 yrs ago, and I still haven't gotten over it

[SusanW]

Oh no! I'm so sad too and I'm not going to see it now. I love the book and I got to work with Maurice Sendak on the packaging for the dolls based on the book so it was always very special to me.

Doe, thanks for letting us know!

SusanW

[pepperlc]

Charolette's Web was actually pretty good.

[June2]

I agree. Charlotte's Web was one of my favorite childhood books and I wasn't too sure if I wanted to "ruin" it by watching the movie. I really liked the movie and bought it for my kids after reading the book to them.

[Gangrel]

I'm so glad I didn't have to take my 4 year old ds to see it as my dw got that privilege to take him. My 7 year old ds had no desire to see it and neither did I, but what's funny is the 7 year old said it looks like a movie for kids. This coming from a 7 year old.

As for "The Outsiders", that is one of my favorite movies of all time. Admittedly, I didn't read the book, but it usually doesn't bother me if a movie detours from the book...I just have to look at it as two different things.