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Having married a werewolf, a young Japanese woman struggles to raise her two werewolf children on her own when her husband dies in this unusual spin on the popular horror subgenre. 'Wolf Children' is such an offbeat take, in fact, that it hardly qualifies as horror movie with the human/wolf metamorphosis more of a metaphor for kids growing and changing and ultimately having to make decisions of what they want in life. The animation is spectacular, and so much so that it is doubtful whether the film would have worked half as well as live action. There is an amazing fluidity to the way the son and daughter change with a superb sequence in which the daughter runs off a porch and momentarily disappears, emerging as a wolf - an act that oblivious onlookers mistake for the girl hiding and a dog appearing. The great animation extends to snow, rainfall and flowing water too, all of which looks incredibly realistic. The film loses something though in the decision to have events narrated retrospectively by the daughter as an adult; the narration takes away from the first-hand experience of two children wrestling with their own identity and the narrative itself focuses a lot on the mother when the two children are far more interesting with their dual identities; the girl in particular is absolutely adorable. Never to mind, the film manages to spin an engaging story as it is. Especially remarkable is how well werewolf mythology is intertwined with coming-of-age drama and how werewolves are presented here as normal human beings, far from the monsters of traditional horror lore.
Pilar Pily
If I could sue people here who assure that this was a good film, I WOULD. But I recognize the story line and graphics (landscape, etc) were good. But this movie is a total waste of time, specially if you like good endings (some good and others sad) but GOOD!! I couldn't be more disappointed than what I am, If i could say with words how awful it was, I would, but I'll try. Was beautiful how hard working the mother of the two kids was, but she lack many things, and the result of her lacking was what happened in the end. I don't understand why they had to decide what they wanted to be, if they were both things? They were humans and wolf at the same time, why did the boy leaves her mother to "take care" of the woods? and he was a disobedient kid, with no respect for her mother and her sister. The mother didn't know how to control, educate nor discipline her kids and in the end she just lost both, of course people here may say she was a good mother and the message was beautiful (decide who you want to be, be free) but people mistake this message and more than anything they were JUST KIDS is like asking a baby what does he want if coke or milk? I mean WHAT!!??? SERIOUSLY are you gonna ask a baby what does he wants to eat???? That's why our world is falling apart. Just please don't waste your time watching this movie as I did.
Brian McAfee
Let me start off by saying this review will have some spoilers in it, so you have been warned.Wolf Children is the story of Hana, a college student who meets a werewolf and falls in love, has a whirlwind romance, gets pregnant, and ends up having to raise two werewolf children on her own. Hana deals with problems, some of which will be familiar to most parents, and others which will be familiar to most dog owners (such as chewing on furniture). All things considered, Wolf Children is a solidly good movie. However, it's not as good as the hype it's received.Let's break it down:Animation: 9.0 This is full of high quality visuals. Absolutely beautiful, especially the gorgeous scenery once Hana moves to the country! All the motion is smooth, the colors are outstanding and vivid, everything looks amazing. If there is any flaw, I would have to say the initial transformation of the father into a wolf was a bit of a letdown. It's pretty much just a slow morph from man to man-wolf, and it really could have been a lot better. This movie has little to offer in the way of effects, and this transformation was their chance to shine, and I feel it was a missed opportunity. But still, it's a small gripe. On a side note, I'm a bit confused as to why Wolf Daddy tells Hana not to watch him transform, and then proceeds to transform extremely slowly over a couple of minutes (which of course Hana sees), however it is clearly established later on that the transformation can be instant.Sound: 8.0 The voice acting was great. Very believable emotions, and the voices seemed to fit the characters very well. The music was good but not great. It was the typical orchestral background music which you would expect for a movie like this, and there really wasn't anything wrong with it. However, there wasn't anything which I could listen to by itself. To get a perfect ten in this category, I have to be looking for the music online after I finish watching the show, and that's not the case here.Story: 7 The story is good. We see approximately twelve years of Hana raising her two wolf children from infants to middle school. Each has to find their own way, human or wolf, and it is interesting to see how they make their choices and how they deal with their dual natures. This was a great concept, which you would expect from Mamoru Hosoda, who brought us Summer Wars and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but the concept wasn't masterfully executed. Actually, it did seem like the movie was trying too hard to be a Ghibli film at times, especially once they moved to the country. Specifically it was like watching Totoro, but with less magic and mystery. It had the look but not the feel. There are some scenes which are badly mishandled. (spoiler!)Toward the end, Ame, Hana's son, runs off into the woods during a typhoon. Mom, of course, runs after him nearly dying while trying to navigate the woods during the intense storm while searching for her son. Unfortunately, instead of playing this as an emotional farewell, it is played for unnecessary drama and excitement. Why? Because the show was nearing its end, and they needed a dramatic climax, that's why. It was fairly obvious and I was not impressed by it. Finally, the story lacks any real ending at all. We get to see that the children have decided which world they want to live in, but that's as close to a resolution as we are going to get. This is, after all, a slice of life film, and that's what we get. A slice.Characters: 7 Hana is the main character, and that may be one of the movie's biggest problems. Miyazaki's films had a sense of wonder, mostly because we experience the world through the eyes of very young characters. In this movie, we mostly experience it through the eyes of an adult going through difficult circumstances. The story is narrated by the daughter, but she is only a major character for the last half of the movie. The father is a real letdown. He is only in the movie very briefly, has only a few lines, and apparently passed on a genetic predisposition to run outside during horrible weather. In fact, we never even learn his name, which pretty much relegates him to the status of an extra. Overall: 7.75 I liked it. I would recommend it. However, there's nothing here that's going to bring you back for a re-watch. I should also point out that my wife and daughter actually got angry at me for not giving it a perfect 10 rating, so it apparently appeals more to female audiences. But I stand by my review.
