DVD REVIEW: A WEREWOLF BOY
REVIEWED BY: CINEMA LATTE
GRADE: 4 OUT OF 5 REELS
UPC: 851339004142
RELEASE DATE: August 13, 2013
DISC INFORMATION: 1 disc, color, widescreen
RUNNING TIME: 122 minutes
SPECIAL FEAUTURES: Making of featurette, Deleted scenes, Deleted scenes with commentary, The language of Cheol-Su featurette, Beautiful Wolf, Poster shoot, and Alternate ending. Plus, IAM trailer
RATED: Not Rated…probably would get a PG-13 or R rating
GENRE: Fantasy, Romance, Drama
STARRING: Joong-ki Song, Bo-young Park, Young-nam Jang, and Yeon-Seok Yoo
A call from a realtor in Korea summons Suni back to a childhood home that brings back a time of youth, love, and turmoil. 47 years ago, Suni and her family moved to the small countryside after the death of her father due to her own health problems. A home bought by her father’s ex-partner in business is held over her head by the man’s rich and devious son, Ji-tae, as a promise of marriage when Suni reaches age. Suni discovers an orphaned mute boy living in the woods around their home and to her dismay; her mother takes him in and names him. Too old for the orphanage and not considered an urgent case for placement in a treatment program, Suni takes it upon herself to train the boy who acts more like a wolf than a boy. As her affections grow for Cheol-Su, Ji-tae becomes more and more jealous and vindictive for his spurned advances to Suni. When an old locker hidden in the barn gives Ji-tae the ammunition he needs to split up the two lovers, things erupt in a violent climax as the origin of Cheol-Su is revealed.
Wow! What a wonderfully told movie about youth, love, and mythical creatures. It takes you in from the beginning and doesn’t let go until the end. The acting is phenomenal and for this to be the third movie in this director’s career, it will be amazing to see what he does next. Filled with humor, intrigue, mystery, and heart-warming characters, this movie has a little bit of something for everyone.
The only downside to this film is the ending. I love the ending that they chose and am glad that they didn’t use the alternate ending…but the ending is really unfinished. I’m the first person who loves non-Hollywood endings, but this isn’t any kind of ending. I’m very disappointed in the way this one stops abruptly.
So in summation, very wonderful story about a young love and a story as old as time (as the song goes), but I can’t give it more than a 4 out of 5 reels because the movie didn’t have any kind of ending but just stops. A very fun tale that is worthy of a viewing, just be prepared to not finish the story.
That’s my review and I’m sticking to it.