Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

This is one of the year's best. To paraphrase the Wild Thing named KW, I could eat it up, I love it so.

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

What he’s (Jonze) ended up with strikes me as one of the most empathic and psychologically acute of all movies about childhood -- a "Wizard of Oz" for the dysfunctional-family era.

Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips

Not since Robert Altman took on “Popeye” a generation ago, and lost, has a major director addressed such a well-loved, all-ages title. This time everything works, from tip to tail.

Rolling Stone by Peter Travers

Jonze has filmed a fantasy as if it were absolutely real, allowing us to see the world as Max sees it, full of beauty and terror. The brilliant songs, by Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and the Kids, enhance the film's power.

Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

As wish-fulfillments go, this is a movie lover's dream.

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

With Where the Wild Things Are Jonze has made a work of art that stands up to its source and, in some instances, surpasses it.

Washington Post by Ann Hornaday

In elaborating on the original book so boldly, and repopulating it so richly, Jonze has protected Where the Wild Things Are as an inviolable literary work. In preserving its darkest spirit, he's created a potent, fully realized variation on its most highly charged themes.

New Orleans Times-Picayune by Mike Scott

His (Jonze) obvious affection for, and veneration of, Maurice Sendak's 1963 Caldecott Medal-winning children's book is palpable in his near-perfect live-action adaptation, a dreamy -- and, like Sendak's book, faintly nightmarish -- exploration of one child's tantrum-y side.

The A.V. Club by Josh Modell

Spike Jonze has recently said in interviews that his chief goal ...was to try to capture the feeling of being 9. By that measure--by just about any measure, really--he succeeded wildly.

Film Threat by Matthew Sorrento

His film captures the wonderment of dreaming - and the reality of waking.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein

For all the artfulness, the feel of the film is rough-hewn, almost primitive. It’s a fabulous tree house of a movie.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

The result is an involving experience for all but the most fidgety children and an opportunity for parents to enjoy (rather than endure) a motion picture with their offspring.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

The movie felt long to me, and there were some stretches during which I was less than riveted. Is it possible that there wasn't enough Sendak story to justify a feature-length film?

St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Joe Williams

To their credit, the creative team has retained the handmade look and unruly spirit of Maurice Sendak's bedtime fable; to their discredit, they haven't added enough narrative or emotional dimension to make it an effective movie.

Variety by Todd McCarthy

Director Spike Jonze's sharp instincts and vibrant visual style can't quite compensate for the lack of narrative eventfulness that increasingly bogs down this bright-minded picture.

The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt

Where the film falters is Jonze and novelist Dave Eggers' adaptation, which fails to invest this world with strong emotions.

Village Voice by J. Hoberman

Wild Things isn't overlong, but it is underwhelming.

The New Yorker by David Denby

I have a vision of eight-year-olds leaving the movie in bewilderment. Why are the creatures so unhappy? That question doesn’t return a child to safety or anywhere else. Of one thing I am sure: children will be relieved when Max gets away from this anxious crew.

Time Out by Keith Uhlich

The true soulfulness of Sendak’s parable never emerges.