Temptation of Wolves (2004)

Wolves' Temptation aka Wolf's Attraction was perhaps the most anticipated movie of the online fandom the year it was released.  My friend kept spazzing about the adaptation of Guiyeoni's popular internet novel (which to be honest I couldn't get past the first page because of the writing style) so I decided to give it a try out of sheer curiosity.

It opens with the coolest sequence I've seen in a teen movie (not that I watch many teen movies).  Our heroine Jung Hankyung has just gotten to Seoul where she is greeted with two different gangs gathering on opposite ends of a subway tunnel.  Before she knows it, they start to move in and she's trapped in an all-out mob fight.  And if there's anything timeless, it's high-school gang rivalry 😀

So we then find out that her parents are divorced.  She's been living with Dad this whole time, but he's just passed away, so she's moving in with Mom and Stepdad.  Strange city, strange family, so she meets up with an old friend from her hometown.  Turns out she's a bitch too, 'cause dangling on her arm now is Hankyung's long-time crush, Daehan.  Poor girl congratulate them with the biggest laughs she can come up with and promptly cries once she gets on the bus.

Well, turns out she isn't that unlucky afterall because that's where she meets Ban Haewon, resident heartthrob of Seoul and all of its 25 districts.  Her lucky star continues to shine when she meets Jung Taesung the next day, rival heartthrob to Ban Haewon.  Here's also one of the most awesome scenes ever in a teen movie.  Imagine walking in the rain by yourself, minding your own business, when a cute-as-a-kitten guy shows up beside you to share your umbrella.  You take a short glance to notice his hand on your shoulder, and looking up to his face, your own breaks into a smile at the adorableness in front of you.  You don't have the slightest idea who he is, but when he grabs your hand and run, you just want the spontaneity of the moment to carry you to the end of the world.

After the rendezvous in the rain, Taesung shows up at Hankyung's school to see her.  Of course he's the gang leader from the rival school and showing up at all means trouble, let alone wanting to take Hankyung away.  Haewon throws a fit and claims Hankyung for his own.  And that's the beauty of Wolves' Temptation.  It's like the ultimate shojo/fanfic story.  Ordinary girl getting attention from two of the hottest guys, sending all other girls over the edge with jealousy and envy.

The movie goes on being great for another chapter or so (because Haewon is an awesome boyfriend, and Taesung is twice the snuggable kitten he was at the beginning) but then everything goes to hell when they introduce Boys-Over-Flowers-style backstabbing, Autumn-Tale-style incest feelings, and Stairway-to-Heaven-style hereditary illness.  It's still hard to rewatch this movie now because of that stupid ending.  Why was it even necessary?  I feel like the author wanted to make her work more than "just a fluffly teen romance" and ended up ruining it that way.  Oh well, this one was still miles better than the incredibly juvenile Doremifasolatido.