A Werewolf Boy (2012)

CAN SOMEONE STARE AT THE POSTER AND FIND PARK BOYOUNG LOOKS LIKE JOONGKI a little?

First of all, I didn't cry. And I don't like the ending.

BUT I LOVE THE PROCESS OF THE STORY. It's unique. And I totally say this: this is not a werewolf movie. You can't judge the movie by its title.

(I might give spoilers unconsciously)

WHILE WATCHING, YOU'LL NEED: Pillows to squeeze, and water. to live.

Song Joongki here is a lovely pet. His acting is near natural. Near natural, because I remember taking note that I find him funny playing innocent at first (but the following minutes I find it natural). And also the girl's acting. It's really cute. They are cute. Not the type you would ship, but the type that you could consider.

Most especially Joongki's learning process. How do you teach someone to eat without finishing everyone's plate in one go? Joongki ate a lot here. The discipline he got is so cute.

Everything's cute, until you see the ending.

I hated the ending. I should stop here I guess.

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I CANT BRING MYSELF TO DESCRIBE HOW THIS MOVIE MOVED ME, even after the movie ended and while watching the credits I WAS STILL CRYING....and even while writting the review TT.TT

WATCH IT!
THOSE WHO HAVENT WATCHED IT, WATCH IT RIGHT NOW!!

After this movie, I lost my fear to watch heart warming, teary movies, I will watch them even though I will cry like a baby, cause they always leave a diamond-like-memory in my heart. Cause the "teary movies" make your day, they ACTUALLY MAKE YOU FEEL, the blank your mind yet fill your heart...I still look around looking for the exact word to describe what I am feeling right now, but I cant help feeling I will certainly fail, for committing the worst sin ever by trying to put feelings into words and ending up ruining the magic running through my body.


At first it brought tears to my eyes, but while reaching the ending...without a doubt I became a CRYBABY, I was desperately holding a handkerchief against my mouth, I was about to yell while crying in the middle of the night.

This movie has made me a Song Joong Ki fan forever!
He portrayed the character perfectly, the eyes, the gestures, his gaze, everything WAS PERFECT, and even those little cute details while interacting with the female lead, all of it moved my heart.

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I do not know what to think about this

So I watched this because it looked interesting, but I'm a bit sad. It didn't end as I was expecting, but it was a bit worth it. A bit of romance, a bit of drama; a bit of thrilling, funny or confusing scenes...

The movie is mostly a memory of the grandmother, a story about how she and her family found a boy who -turned out to- was a werewolf. (I still saw him as a puppy tho, he looked so cute) It's about the way she taught him as he was her own son, the way she cared for him and the way he cared for her :)

She was living somewhere else with someone else, she maybe didn't even think of him that much as he thought about her. Even when she was an old lady, she still remembered the happy moments they shared together tho.

Now to the things I did not like: the fighting scenes were too long for me, not that I was scared tho; also there were lots of scenes in the night, and I was watching in at day time so it was sometimes hard to see what is even happening; I expected bigger plot twist, I expected something more romantic and thrilling, not a small mix of every genre... and to the ending - I do not wanna spoil you, but I think you will see why I was disappointed.

I think the idea was good, but they should focus more on one genre, not adding more and more so I can't even tell what I watched.

Anyway, that's it and sorry if I made any mistakes in grammar.

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There was a lot of confused crying, especially at the end.

Considering how slow-paced the movie was, I didn't feel bored when I was watching it. You could really tell how much affection the FL had for the ML and I attribute most of that to Park Bo Young's amazing acting. Like seriously, this actress was MADE for crying scenes, she makes me tear up every time she cries on screen. I almost didn't recognize Song Joong Ki in this because it's a complete 180 from his other roles that I had seen. To be honest, though, I couldn't understand the motivations behind the main villain's actions. He didn't seem to be gaining anything from terrorizing ML besides just being an asshole and it kind of bothered me that there was no deeper meaning to his arc. If anybody reading this ever read the Webtoon "Days of Hana" this movie kind of reminds me of that webtoon except obviously less characters/gore/fleshed out storyline. In that way, the movie felt pretty predictable and pretty similar to other movies that go along the lines of "weird uncivilized male lead with nice and normal female lead." Despite that, I couldn't help but rate this movie so high because I absolutely adored Park Bo Young and Song Joong Ki's acting. I wholeheartedly admit my bias LOL. I genuinely loved the entire atmosphere of this movie (because sometimes I just want to have a good cry and watch a sad movie) and even the music felt extremely fitting (the song that played in the credits is definitely going on my Kdrama spotify playlist) to the entire mood. This movie was so calming and yet destroyed me from the inside out at the end, and I definitely recommend it, especially if you're a fan of PBY and SJK.

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Brilliantly acted, heart-tugging & transcendent love story of a Beauty & Beast!

An almost-silent film whose beauty lies in simple narration & brilliant acting making it a must-watch classic. The story is of star-crossed lovers overcoming their differences through a common bond with limited/no words exchanged but acts of kindness; helping them grow individually while falling in love. Outside forces threaten their union, forcing them to make hard emotional choices that tests their fates. The film's themes are Beauty meets the Beast, their love transcends time & leaves you with the lingering question of who truly is a monster? (yes, I am looking at us - humans!)

Best Parts of the Movie:
+ emotionally gripping love story between two very different people (with elements of supernatural)
+ simple storytelling & pace (even when shifting between 2 timelines)
+ brilliant acting! (a lot is said with almost no/limited words)
+ feel good factors (comedy, good-triumphs-over-evil, nostalgic elements of childhood, warm family & neighbors relations)

Some Minor, Minor Flaws:
- Origin of the male lead/wolf-boy is only hinted, not explained in details
- Background of Antagonist's motives: he does evil stuff, but why?
- What became of a certain support character (Mr. Jeong) in the end?
(Not plot drivers nor do they impact the overall story. But had they been there, it would have made the film perfect)

Overall:
I maybe in the minority of people watching this film in 2023 but I highly recommend all to watch it at least once to experience the beautiful tale & brilliant acting. Just keep some tissues handy. Do not drop it thinking the picture quality would be bad. While it is not the best compared to the present works, I truly believe it is one of the gems of K-movies, deserving all the accolades it got.

SPECIAL NOTE: Acting by the main leads is class-apart!
+ Song Joong Ki's role IMO is his best acting till date as he solely expressed his character with his face & body, only.
+ Kudos to brilliant writing, cause when he finally spoke, the scene is poignant, piercing your heart.
+ Park Bo Young is amazing throughout, but steals the moment specifically in a gut-wrenching scene towards the end.

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I decided to watch this movie because I'm intrigued of why it received so many praises from different people and because I wonder how good Song Joong Ki is since I hadn't watched any of his shows. Now, after watching the movie, I'm more excited to watch Innocent Man and Speedy Scandal because of the protagonists.

STORY: Rated it 9 because there are other supernatural/fantasy type of movies that somehow has this concept. Or something. However, the plot of this one is really done well. (I actually kind of hesitated watching at first because of "werewolf". Kinda got suspicious that he'd be like Jacob of Twilight. Sorry, Twilight fans.)

The start might be a bit slow, but it's bearable. Everything that happened really contributed to the development of the plot and the characters. The changes that happened in the characters are not exaggerated. The ending... for me, it's really something that gives a great impact. I couldn't think of any better way to end the story. The ending just satisfies everything that happened. (Although I really think that that is not for everyone's liking.)

ACTING/CAST: This is really a 10. The cast is very well-chosen. The various emotions an audience could feel while watching the show won't be possible if it weren't for the casts who portrayed their characters -- from the main casts to the minor casts -- very well. I really want to mention Yoo Yeon Seok. It's because his acting really made me want to go inside the show and strangle him to death. Although others are able to do that, too, for someone I just knew, that's really good. Park Bo Young did very great, too! She, along with the not only handsome but also great Song Joong Ki, made the whole movie lovable and so worthy to watch. Song Joong Ki... I can't describe his acting in the movie using words. "Great" may be an understatement. (Or I may be biased.) His acting in this one is just so awesome.

MUSIC: Other than that one certain song which Suni played, there are no other songs in the movie. And that's a beautiful song with a good message. For a melodrama, it's good that the music isn't overly done. It's actually one of the great points of this movie, too; it didn't need a really dramatic song for the audience's emotion to be provoked out; the casts' acting made up for it. That's how great their acting are. Anyway, the other sound effects are good and just matches well with the scenes.

REWATCH VALUE: 9. This will be good to re-watch, but with the knowledge of how everything will turn out, I probably will just re-watch this once in a while, when I'm feeling nostalgic or something.

OVERALL: The visual effects are not that grand, but it's not really too bad. The plot is great. The acting is superb. Music is good.

If someone wants to watch something that will make him lighthearted after the watch, skip this one because, well, this is a melodrama. :P
However, I truly recommend this movie to everyone. 2 hours and 5 minutes will not be wasted, I am sure!

(Sorry if I didn't get to be objective. OTL)

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Time for a film ideally suited for girls night. At first glance, we have everything that made Twilight saga so popular, that is a handsome boy with supernatural powers and unfulfilled love. Or is it only at first glance? Is responsible for the film director Jo Sung-Hee, who had nothing outstanding is not shown . The movie was a huge commercial success . Before theaters drew nearly 7 million viewers and earned almost 50 billion won ( ~ 144 million) . The role of the " pretty boy with super powers " occurred ( apparently , I'm a guy so I do not know ) handsome Song Joong-Ki (successful roles in A Frozen Flower (2008) and Penny Pinchers (2011)), and his partner is portrayed by a lovely Park Bo-Young (in my opinion the best of the young actresses who so far had the same great roles, including Scandal Makers (2008), ESP Couple (2008), Don't Click (2012), Hot Young Bloods (2014)). In supporting roles, among others, we will see Yoo Yeon-Seok'a (Architecture 101 (2012), Horror Stories (2012)), Jang Yeong-Nam (Possessed (2009), Harmony (2010), Azooma (2013), Friend, The Great Legacy (2013)) and Kim Hyang-Gi (The Grand Heist (2012), Thread of Lies (2014)).

Like most movies made especially for the ladies, A Werewolf Boy do not treats us with complicated or ambitious storyline. Everything is made ??so that you can fully enjoy the sweet romance. The movie starts out in present times, where we see the 60-something years old Soon-Yi (Lee Young-Ran), peacefully living in America with her family. One morning she gets a call about the sale of property in Korea that belonged to her family. The whole situation causes the influx of memories. The action goes 47 years back. Due to the bankruptcy of the company of her father, and tuberculosis, Soon-Yi (Park Bo-Young) and her younger sister Soon-Ja (Kim Hyang-Gi) together with mother (Jang Yeong-Nam) are forced to move into a house in the countryside, which is owned by the rich (jerk) Ji-Tae (Yoo Yeon-Seok). The house previously belonged to (the mad scientist) biologist who carried out various experiments on animals. Someday Soon-Yi lured by strange noises coming from the shed, meets up with one of these experiments. This experiment named by Soon-Yi, Chul-Soo (Song Joong-Ki), turns out to be a handsome young boy with some kind of super powers.

The movie met with mixed opinions of critics, but despite this, thanks to the overwhelming support from young girls, was a huge commercial success. If you did not like the Twilight series, then you probably won't like A Werewolf Boy. There are applied the same ideas that made so many women obsessed over Twilight. Although, all movie is in truth, Twilight with much less flaws, thanks to appropriate choice of mood and well constructed ending, it became somewhat more ambitious, and definitely better movie.

We get a young heroine, whose form has been specifically designed (it is quite bland and without any outstanding features, which is partly be faithful to the image and behavior of women in Korea in the '60), as a kind of "avatar", so that women can experience their fantasy of first love with the perfect boy who is beautiful, mysterious, taciturn (eliminates the problem of quarrels), virtually immortal and loyal (quite literally) like a dog. There are no sexual overtones or dark/heavy situation. The entire movie is perfectly prepared so that young girls could be moved, and enjoy the sight of the handsome Chul-Soo, who behaves like a fairly intelligent, Labrador, and finally able to cry at the touching farewell scene.

The movie is kept in a pleasant and warm (thanks to a well-chosen lighting), a little fairy-tale atmosphere. Jo Sung-Hee superbly led young actors and toned down their acting, so they would perfectly fit the atmosphere of the movie. Excellent characterization and neatly constructed plot, which makes the "sweet" scenes seem very natural and does not seem forced, completes this warm feeling.

The only real drawback is the poor character of the antagonist, Ji-Tae. Jo tried to humanize him a bit, but failed to do so and by the end of the movie we still see Ji-Tae as somewhat hideous and artificial jerk. Nicely depicted are scenes of Chul -Soo transformation into a werewolf. There is small amount of computer graphics, so that the whole thing does not seem artificial. The problem is only the fact that they have been treated with neglect when it comes to their importance in storyline. Although the movie is very carefully produced and has no major flaws, the calm atmosphere of whole movie causes the end to greets us feeling a bit deceived by triviality of events.

If you are not a woman, but still you want to enjoy this movie, you have to prepare yourself before the show. Forget about the thrilling storyline, action scenes, or undertaking the issues that force you to think and try to enjoy the light romance, with elements of melodrama.

It was hard for me to rate this movie, because I rarely get emotional during romances, in particular those produced for the teen. It was a nice experience (mainly thanks to the sweet and charming Park Bo-Young) and the warm, fairy-tale like mood of the movie. I can honestly recommend it to any woman as a movie perfect for a women evening.

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