‘Where the Wild Things Are’ an enthralling journey

Far before innocent and angsty Max screams "Let the wild rumpus start!" does director Spike Jonze's new feature film "Where the Wild Things Are" suck you into an enthralling journey of bliss, hopelessness, betrayal and naivety. Jonze combines the original written tale, borrowed from Maurice Sendak's 1963 classic children's book of the same title, with the tapestry of his own imagination. In the process, he creates a film that explores more than the "cookies and milk" children's book it was initially perceived as and moves deeper into an explanation of the joys and woes of the human race.

Main character Max, played by 12-year-old Max Records, often tries to make his own fun by digging deep into the abyss of his young mind, unfortunately getting himself into more trouble in an ignorant adult world that doesn't understand him.

Max, naively unable to face the struggles of his home life, goes wild as he sees his teenage sister growing farther from him and being heavily influenced by her friends, and his divorced mother falling under the pressures of her job and in love with a new man. The boy runs away to a nearby river where he boards a boat that sails him to an unknown land. As he investigates the rocky shores, Max meets a menagerie of furry, animal-like giants -- the Wild Things.

Carol, voiced by James Gandolfini, is one of the first to extend a hand of friendship to Max and appoint him king of the wild things. Max befriends the six other beasts -- voiced by stars such as Paul Dano as Alexander and Forest Whitaker as Ira -- who accompany him throughout his voyage.

The screenplay, sprinkled with laughs and written by Jonze along with David Eggers, most notably personifies the greatest triumphs and darkest sentiments of humans by sharing Max and the beasts' struggles between the world they are placed in and the sometimes difficult relationships they face with each other. The story possibly could confuse younger viewers, but older audience members should find the tale engaging.

Although children might not understand the underlying meaning of Max's story with the Wild Things, Jonze makes up for the possible loss by appealing to their imaginations through the dreamscapelike cinematic visuals and sets. The furry characters in the movie are endearingly more charming than the frightening beasts in the storybook, but Max's dirt-laced wolf costume stays true to its familiar, original model.

Jonze and his crew, accompanied by an acoustic and indie-style score dictated by the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O., richly create the warm shades of the sand dunes in the Wild Thing's land, the deep emeralds and natural browns of the forest, and the cozy landscape of Max's suburbia. These lush surroundings portray a child's view of a world that is defined by some happiness -- but more sorrow -- that leads him to escape from the raw reality of life into the brilliant world of his imagination.