Woodwalkers (4 Stars)

This film is based on a series of books written by the German author Katja Brandis. So far she's written 24 Woodwalkers books, out of a total of 70 books since 1996. Checking a few books at random, it seems they have an average of 300 pages each. That's relatively short, by today's standards, but it's still a lot of books.

Jay is a troubled teenager. He was adopted after being found walking wild in the mountains of Wyoming. He loves his new parents, but he can't make friends and doesn't fit in at school. He has a secret that he daren't tell anyone, not even his parents: he can transform himself into a puma. After being expelled from every school he visits, he's offered a scholarship to a private school. It seems he hasn't been keeping his secret. The school's owner knows that Jay is a puma. He explains that it's actually the other way round: Jay is a puma who can change himself into a human.

Every child in the school is some sort of animal. It's the perfect place for Jay, who discovers that his real name before being adopted was Carag. He shares a room with a bison called Brandon, and he develops a crush on a girl called Holly, who can transform into a squirrel.

Things aren't perfect in Jay's new life. The school is organising protests against the local forest being cut down. That's good, isn't it? It would be good, except the school owner is prepared to kill the workers to protect the forest.

I greatly enjoyed the film, but I'm disappointed to say that Oliver wasn't so enthusiastic. He sat for most of the film looking bored. Other children reacted differently. There were girls sitting next to us, probably about eleven, and they kept laughing at the slightest touches of humour. It isn't really a funny film, but they burst into laughter at any hints of humour.

I've been told that it's the first film in a trilogy. Only three films for 24 books? Let's see how successful the films are. There might be more on the way.