Line #14 Film/WildThing


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wild_thing_1987.jpeg]]
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3	''Wild Thing'' is a 1987 action film directed by Max Reid, starring Creator/RobertKnepper, Creator/KathleenQuinlan, Creator/RobertDavi, Creator/MauryChaykin, and Creator/BettyBuckley. Creator/JohnSayles wrote the screenplay.
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5	In 1969, a young boy watches drug dealers murder his parents. He runs away into the city and grows up near-feral on the streets. As an adult he becomes a modern-day Tarzan, defending the inhabitants of his neighborhood from DirtyCops and drug dealers with the help of his cat sidekick and some improvised weapons. He falls in love with a social worker named Jane and sets out to take down the drug dealer who murdered his parents, who is now a powerful crime lord.
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7	Not to be confused with ''Film/WildThings''.
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10	!!''Wild Thing'' contains examples of:
11	* AttemptedRape: Jane first meets Wild Thing when he rescues her from two men who try to rape her in a car.
12	* BoundAndGagged: The villains tie Jane to a chair and tape her mouth shut.
13	* BuildingSwing: Wild Thing does this a few times with a grappling hook made out of an umbrella.
14	* CatapultNightmare: Wild Thing sits bolt upright after dreaming about his parents' murder.
15	* CeilingCling: Wild Thing does this after he's captured and locked up in the police station. When a photographer comes in to take his picture, Wild Thing drops down and knocks him out.
16	* ChildhoodHomeRediscovery: As an adult, Wild Thing stumbles across his parents' old van, now dilapidated and overgrown.
17	* TheCityNarrows: Wild Thing lives in the Zone, a neighborhood ruled by organized criminals and DirtyCops and inhabited mostly by gang members, prostitutes, and homeless people.
18	* DeathByOriginStory: Wild Thing's parents.
19	* DirtyCop: Seemingly the entire police force is in the pocket of organized crime. A cop even witnessed Wild Thing's parents' murder, and tried to kill him as he ran away.
20	* FingerGun: Three-year-old Wild Thing fires one at his head when Leah asks him what happened to his parents.
21	* HarmfulToMinors: A three-year-old boy watching his parents get shot, then narrowly surviving a murder attempt.
22	* HeroicFireRescue: When Safe House, where Jane works, is burned down, Wild Thing climbs in through one of the windows to rescue a teenage prostitute trapped inside. He lowers her down on a rope and escapes through another window.
23	* HippieParents: As a young child, Wild Thing lived with his parents, a man dressed like Jesus and a woman with long, braided hair, in a painted van decorated with peace symbols.
24	* LetThePastBurn: Wild Thing's ParentalSubstitute, Leah, tells him to burn her body and the home they live in after she dies so there will be nothing left for "the Company," as she calls the establishment.
25	* LoyalAnimalCompanion: Wild Thing's cat follows him everywhere.
26	* ManOnFire: Wild Thing is on fire when he escapes from Safe House.
27	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: We never learn Wild Thing's real name.
28	* ParentalSubstitute: Wild Thing is raised between the ages of three and ten by a homeless woman named Leah who gives him his nickname and teaches him how to survive on the streets.
29	* ShroudedInMyth: The Wild Thing is a local legend. Most of the people who have seen him are winos, so some people think he doesn't exist, while others think he can magically turn into a cat.
30	* SoftWater: Twice. At the beginning of the movie, three-year-old Wild Thing jumps from a bridge into a river to escape from the shooters, and at the end, he jumps from a tower into the same river to escape from dozens of cops.
31	* TheStraightAndArrowPath: Wild Thing fights crime with a bow and arrow.
32	* SuperWindowJump: Wild Thing escapes from Safe House by smashing out through a first-story window.
33	* TitledAfterTheSong: "Wild Thing" by Music/TheTroggs, which is played a few times during the movie.
34	* WalkingShirtlessScene: Wild Thing wears an open vest with no shirt. During the second half of the movie, he wears nothing but cut-offs.
35	* WickedCultured: At one point two villains are shown playing chess while listening to classical music.

Context Film / WildThing