Where the Wild Things are
Initial Reaction: It?s not a documentary about zoos.

Main Characters
Max: He?s an ordinary kid played by Max Records.
Carol, Alexander, Judith, Ira, Douglas: Several strange creatures voiced by James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O?Hara and Forest Whitaker

Plot Summary
Max is trying to live the life of a normal kid, but he doesn?t have many friends, and he also gets too emotional about things.
When his sister?s friends mash a snow cave he made, Max goes to his sister?s room and trashes it. (Doesn?t believe in two wrongs don?t make a right.)
Then he gets into an argument with his mother and runs away, then sails away to a distant island. (What every kid does when they run away - not!)
There he meets up with several monsters. He lies to them about being a king, and the monsters gladly take him in as such. He tries to make the land someplace special for all of them, but several problems show up and the group gets divided on how to proceed with the plan that is called life.

SCORING
Main Characters
I like Max a lot; he?s not just an ordinary movie child with perfect parents and a perfect disposition. He gets angry, loses patience, but is willing to go a long way to be a friend.
The monsters are also well done; each one has a personality and a connection to one of Max?s friends or family members. SCORE: 9

Supporting Cast
Not much to see here, but the rest of the cast gives some nice performances - from Max?s family members to other characters on the island of monsters. SCORE: 8

Plot
I enjoyed most of the journey that the film?s story, but beware; this film doesn?t sugar coat anything. SCORE: 9

Originality
Kids meeting up with monsters isn?t that unusual, but these monsters have a life and personality of their own (something lacking in most other monster films.) SCORE: 8

Violence Factor
Lots of trees get destroyed and a game of dirtball goes very wrong with monsters getting hurt - but it?s needed as part of the plot (besides, there?s no blood or anything gross shown.) SCORE: 8

Other Moral Issues
This film is about learning the consequences of the decisions a person makes in their lives, for better or worse. It does a great job of showing those consequences (even if some adults don?t want to see them). SCORE: 8

Final Score (out of 60): 50 % Score: 83.33%
A simple story with thought out characters makes this a great film.