The Thousands

Well, the hipster event of the year is finally here. In turning Maurice Sendak’s 338-word evocation of childhood rage into a 101-minute movie, have Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers done justice to the memories of Generation Coolsie? Well, yes and no.

Max Records is just brilliant as Max. He’s sparky and articulate, but not in a creepily precocious, Haley Joel Osment way. He may be smart and resourceful, but you never forget he’s just a little kid who cries, tantrums and gets scared. I felt the only false note was when Eggers put the line, "Woman, feed me!" in his mouth. The Wild Things’ voice and body acting meshes impressively; they seem so real, and Jonze has used ambient light evocatively to make them look at home in their environment. The movie is beautifully shot.

But it really annoyed me that Eggers made Max’s real-life worries dog him in his own imagination – and gave him even more problems to cope with. As king, Max becomes an HR manager mediating in the Wild Things’ interpersonal dramas. In Sendak’s book, Max leaves when he realises non-stop rumpusing gets boring; here, he leaves because he just can’t hack the stress any more.