Where The Wild Things Are

Got an idea for something odd and not of this world? Chuck it to Spike Jonze and let the insides of his bonce run wild. After making a name for himself with zany Fatboy Slim promo vids and Being John Malkovich, the maverick has turned his directing hand to bringing classic kid's illustrated book Where The Wild Things Are to life.

Inevitably, his visualisation is a joy on the eyeballs, as an imaginative kid make-believes up a faraway island inhabited by giant furry animal-alikes. And it's no shirker on the humour too, with plenty of chuckles, even for viewers over the age of 12. Or 37, even.

Yet while Jonze has done an immaculate job in digging deep inside the mind of a child, the lack of a pwoper story (the book is only nine lines after all!) means there's no real emotional contact and the magic sorta crumbles into teeny particles of blowaway dust. We should've been bawling at the ending. Just like we did in E.T., and (*grits teeth*) Free Willy. Or when Harold Bishop left Neighbours. We weren't. Boo.