Where the Wild Things Are (video game) levels allow Max to traverse background and foreground layers of the stage. "Where the Wild Things Are" received "mixed" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. While acknowledging its graphics and other elements as commendable, the majority of critics noted the game's lack of depth as a major pitfall. Seth Schiesel of "The New York Times" considered the Wii version "more than a little disappointing." He also noted that while it's "not a sloppy or slipshod game," "The combat in "Wild Things" could charitably be described as minimalist in that all you ever have to do,
Where the Wild Things Are (film) Yorker" saying, "I have a vision of eight-year-olds leaving the movie in bewilderment. Why are the creatures so unhappy?" Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com criticized the film's visual aspect, "Even the look of the picture becomes tiresome after a while — it starts to seem depressive and shaggy and tired." She also stated that "The movie is so loaded with adult ideas about childhood — as opposed to things that might delight or engage an actual child." "The Globe and Mail"s Liam Lacey branded the production a "self-consciously sad film." Critic A.O. Scott named the film the best of 2009 and