After killing his opponent in the ring, boxer Woo-chul (Park Sung-woong) is sentenced to 8 years in prison, but he is ultimately released early for good behavior. He is picked up at the jail by friends Jang Do-shik (Oh Dae-hwan) and Park Hyun-tae (Seo Ji Hoo), who immediately take him out for drinks to celebrate. Do-shik is a ruthless and ambitious gangster, with several money-making ventures, all covers for more sinister gambling, drug smuggling and prostitution operations. He offers Woo-chul a job, but he says that he just wants to live a quiet life. When he gets to his hotel room, Woo-chul discovers that Do-shik has arranged for an escort, Choi Myeong-ju (Seo Ji-hye) aka “Bom”, to be waiting for him. However, as a gentleman, he refuses her services. As Myeong-ju is about to leave, she receives a call from her madam warning her that a particularly rowdy client has been looking for her, so she ends up staying the night with Woo-chul.
Woo-chul is drawn to Myeong-ju and wants to protect her, so he finds and beats up the client who has been harassing her, only to discover afterwards that he’s a cop. Woo-chul had planned to join the crew of a crab boat for a few months and live a quiet life, but now he finds himself mixed up in the very trouble he was trying to avoid. Meanwhile, Do-shik is working on a drug deal with partner Kang Yoon-jae (Jung Soo-Kyo) and fisherman Ri Gak-soo (Oh Dal-su), and enlists Woo-chul’s help with a double-cross plan. But in this world of corrupt police, crime organizations, and everyone willing to backstab one another for money and power, how does he know who he can trust? It seems like Woo-chul’s new life is going to be anything but quiet.
The Wild, which takes its name from the boxer’s nickname, is your typical gangster thriller/redemption story. Woo-chul has done his time and is trying to turn his life around. But after he falls in love and tries to rescue the girl, he soon finds himself back in the dangerous world was trying to escape. The film has some well-choreographed and exciting action-packed moments, and some raw, brutal fights, with characters wielding not only guns, but knives and cleavers. However, the story itself gets quite confusing and convoluted at times. There are so many characters, some of which go by multiple names, and the relationships between them usually aren’t very well explained (if at all). Even taking notes for the purposes of this review, I had so much trouble keeping track of the different characters and their loyalties/alliances, which are constantly shifting. So I can’t imagine how the average viewer, who isn’t trying to write everything down, would keep it all straight.
The film is very slow at revealing the finer details, often making use of flashbacks that don’t really even add or reveal anything more that what we already know. These flashbacks also don’t really help to clarify the connections between the characters. At times the film gets a bit too bogged down in the love story between Woo-chul and Myeong-ju, and trying to cleverly add more layers to the double- and triple-crosses that it just becomes a bit incoherent. The film also ultimately ends up pretty depressing by the end.
Well Go USA has released The Wild on digital format, but no physical release has been announced at this time. It is also streaming on the company’s Hi-YAH! streaming service. Normally in my reviews, I would comment on the audio and video presentation of the release, but I watched this film via a watermarked screener, so I’m not sure how it compares to the final quality of the consumer product. The film is presented in its original Korean language, with English subtitles.
What’s Included:
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Digital specs may vary by platform/retailer.
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
- Audio: Korea Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English
Film: (1:50:59)
Extras:
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No bonus material included
Final Thoughts:
While The Wild may have some exciting action sequences, the story is a bit slow and hard to follow. Unfortunately, I wanted to like this more than I actually did. And after watching the similarly-themed and much more successful Monkey Man in the theater this past week, I can’t really recommend a blind buy of this film. I think the best bet for those who are interested in The Wild, is to check out via the Hi-YAH! streaming service, where you’ll also find some of Well Go’s other more enjoyable films that we’ve reviewed in the past. I don’t really see myself revisiting this movie any time soon.
The Mob
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