Wanted to love this film as I adore the book. The book is all about dealing with feelings and learning to have control over them. The Beasts represent the out of control rages a young child has and 'Max the King' represents learning how to tame those rages. Everytime I read the book, it brings me to tears for its simplistic pure representation of a young frustrated child and his wild imagination. And thereinlies the problem with this film, it is lacking the simplicity, the true heart of its message. It fails to capture the magic that a simple, mostly illustrated book does by creating far more than is necessary. Yes costumes are impressive, the direction impressive, the acting superb and visually the film is stunning, but the storyline fails to accurately represent the book.
It's almost like the person who wrote the screenplay did not understand what the book was about. It lacked a heart and without true heart this film fails at everything the book accomplished.
It's almost like the person who wrote the screenplay did not understand what the book was about. It lacked a heart and without true heart this film fails at everything the book accomplished.