“Where the Wild Things Are” is a new movie based on the children’s book by the same title by Maurice Sendak.

In the movie, a little disobedient boy named Max runs away from home and falls asleep in a nearby forest and dreams of a similar forest full of ferocious wild creatures that crown Max as their King after threatening to eat him. He lives with them and lets “the wild rumpus begin” and plans a huge fort for the huge creatures.

After one of the creatures, KW, decides to leave, the creatures realize that Max isn’t the flawless, all-powerful King he claimed to be, and the real wild rumpus begins.

The movie was a lot different from the book, which was very short and had less plot. Besides having the recognizable creatures and a few other parts, the movie was almost entirely different.

For example, in the book, the plot is basically about a boy who creates chaos at home, which gets him in trouble with his mother and is then sent to bed without supper. Then, in his dream world, he takes on the role of power his mother had and resolves his conflict of being angry with her, waking to find his warm supper waiting for him.

In the movie, none of that plot was evident. Instead, Max has some problems at home involving his anger at his sister and her friends, and his discomfort with his single mother having a date and he runs away. Also, the creatures are much different characters with names and personal issues, which Max gets entangled with. Later in the movie, the plot takes a darker turn and was a little scary for a bit, which was much different from the cute, happier, classic children’s book.

The relationship issues that were presented in the Wild Things’ world were not the same kind as in Max’s life and were also never fully resolved among the creatures. New and strange ideas were also badly thrown into the movie as well.

For instance, the Wild Thing, Carol, who Max first relates to in the beginning of the movie and who becomes his best buddy, horribly turns on him and becomes crazy half-way through, destroying the trust he had in the Wild Things in a way that doesn’t make sense in the story. Instead of growing upon the book’s plot, the movie left out the ideas in the original story and put in too many new ones that just didn’t work, making the movie a completely different story.

Despite that, Max Records plays Max in the movie really well for a 12-year-old in his first big film role. I think he looked exactly like the boy in the picture book and he accurately portrayed how a little boy might feel and act throughout the movie.

Overall, I thought the movie was very bizarre, and had some really sad parts. In the theater, I actually cried three times while watching it, and at one point it took a really sinister and dark turn. It wasn’t like the children’s book at all.

On its own, “Where the Wild Things Are” was a creepy movie, but if you really loved the book, you may enjoy it.

Aran Kirschenmann, 13, is a contributing writer for the Bellevue Reporter and a eighth grader at The International School in Bellevue.