Now, I haven’t read the book in years, but I’ll do my best to remember… The plot was different from the book, but it needed to be; there wouldn’t have been enough story or development to adapt it straight from book to screen. So some changes were made. The monsters though were great, just how I remembered them, and Max, while obviously a child actor’s version of Max, was pretty darn close to what I remember from the books. Maybe a little more sad or angry than I’d expected, but then again, changes needed to be made for the film.

When it comes down to it, it wasn’t exactly what I’d expected, but it hit the spot. It’s a mature look at what it means to be a kid, and sure, the emotion’s shared and loved by everyone, but it’s damn good to be reminded every now and then. Basically I went in for a reminder of childhood, of imagination and innocence, and I got teary enough times to be satisfied that the movie was doing its job. I remember sitting in my room playing with Legos for hours and hours, building bigger and bigger castles, ninja fortresses, even a cowboy ghost town at one point. Oh yea… and the pirate ships…oh, did I love my pirates. There was no reason not to play, no reason not to explore and imagine and create things, and I feel that’s something I’ve lost a bit of now, growing up. Things need to be justified, planned, organized. Sometimes I think we all need to take a few steps back, chill, and let the wild rumpus start.