One of Michael J. Fox's earliest but very
successful movies was, aptly enough, canine themed…sort of. Namely, Teen Wolf – the 1985 fantasy/comedy
movie directed by Rod Daniel and released by Atlantic releasing Corporation in
which his adolescent character, high school student and basketball player Scott
Howard, hits puberty and duly releases, to his considerable surprise and alarm,
his hitherto-hidden inner werewolf! As this is primarily a comedy flick, however, instead of embarking upon a rampage of slaughter like most movie lycanthropes do, Scott utilises his unexpected animalistic attributes to improve his basketball skills, turning him into the team's star player!
Teen Wolf proved such a popular movie that in addition to a 2-season Teen Wolf: The Animated Series being screened on TV during 1986-1987 and again featuring Scott Howard as the lead character, a sequel live-action movie was also released back then, entitled Teen Wolf Too. But this time, and starring a different actor in it, the lead character was Scott's cousin. Like so many sequels to highly successful original movies, however, it did not attract the level of acclaim, especially from film critics, that its predecessor achieved, and is nowadays all but forgotten. Yet when I watched this movie recently, I found it very entertaining, which is why I am reviewing it here today.
Directed by Christopher Leitch, and released in 1987 by Atlantic Releasing Corporation again, Teen Wolf Too stars Jason Bateman in his film debut as Scott Howard's first cousin, Todd Howard (their fathers are brothers). Todd is a very bright but shy, socially-inept loner student at high school – until, that is, he discovers his family's lycanthropic secret when he, just like Scott, starts transforming into a werewolf, often on the most inopportune but hilarious occasions.
However, his attendant, greatly-increased physical strength and massively-boosted confidence also make Todd suddenly very popular with his class-mates, especially a certain female one named Nicki (Estee Chandler), who had already taken a shine to him even before his wolfish makeover. Furthermore, these new traits help him become a highly successful boxer at school – so much so, in fact, that he is in line to gain a major college scholarship if he can win a forthcoming boxing championship.
Sadly, however, such swift and entirely unexpected popularity and success soon go to Todd's head, so that the once-timid, studious, kind-hearted teenager becomes a brash, study-shirking, callous jerk, with his friends and fans losing no time in deserting him, as does girlfriend Nicki. So, can Todd shake off his beastly behaviour, restore the true Todd still residing within, and duly redeem himself in the eyes of his peers, yet still win that all-important, career-changing boxing championship?
It's not going to be easy, that's for sure! And why does his high school's enigmatic Prof. Tanya Brooks (Kim Darby) take such a particular interest in Todd? Is there more to her than meets the eye? Could be!!
As viewers of the original Teen Wolf will have recognized, the sports may have changed, from basketball to boxing, but by and large Teen Wolf Too is very much a re-run of that first movie in terms of basic storyline. The principal difference is how the lead character is portrayed. Both are boorish when lupine, no question about that. Yet whereas Michael J. Fox's Scott is still upbeat if not necessarily cocky when in human form, Jason Bateman's Todd is far more diffident and lacking in confidence when human, thereby making his lycanthropic transformations into an alpha male, albeit a decidedly hairy, clawed, and toothy one, much more dramatic.
Interestingly, moreover, the initial plan for Teen Wolf Too was for it to be a second live-action outing for Michael J. Fox's character Scott, which, if this had transpired, would have guaranteed by definition a very different storyline from the first movie. However, Fox apparently turned down the opportunity to reappear as Scott, supposedly due to his not wanting to put himself through the intricate, lengthy make-up regime required for transforming him on-screen into a werewolf. Hence the creation of a brand-new lead character, Scott's cousin Todd, for this sequel, plus the obvious necessity, therefore, to cast a different actor, but retreading much of the same plot themes from the original movie rather than devising entirely new ones.
Also of interest is that at one stage a third movie in this series was envisaged (not counting the much darker 2023 flick Teen Wolf: The Movie, based upon the 2011-2017 6-season TV show Teen Wolf), in which a now all-grown-up Scott is father to a daughter who perpetuates the family werewolf tradition. However, the critical panning and box office failure of Teen Wolf Too scuppered these plans.
Nevertheless, as I noted earlier, and which has been true so many times in the past with my movie viewing, in spite of the brickbats hurled at this movie down through the years from critics and other haters, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Indeed, if anything, I actually preferred it to the original, not least because of some delightful in-jokes, both embedded within the movie itself, and especially in its publicity.
Take a closer look at the publicity poster for it that heads this present Shuker In MovieLand review, for example, and spot all the wonderful canine/lupine-themed puns masquerading as titles on the spines of the books that Todd in semi-werewolf mode is leaning upon – 'The Wolfman Cometh', 'Fangs For The Memories', and 'Dyed In The Wolf', to mention but a few!
Then there is the clever reversion in it of the original movie's famous tagline. In Teen Wolf, this was: 'He always wanted to be special… but he never expected this!', whereas in Teen Wolf Too it becomes: 'He never wanted to be special… but he always expected this!'. The latter alludes to the fact that Scott's prior discovery that he was a werewolf and his subsequent coming out publicly as one meant that Todd, as his cousin, already knew that he was most probably one too (in contrast to Scott being totally shocked when he made that discovery about himself) and would therefore do the same. In turn, that also explains why the word 'Too' appears in this film's main title, rather than either 'Two' or '2', as one would normally expect in the title of an original movie's first sequel.
In conclusion: although Teen Wolf Two may never trouble the most popular 1980s or best werewolf movie lists, if you're looking for an undemanding, amusing fantasy/comedy movie to while away a pleasant 90 minutes or so, this one will fit the bill admirably.
If you'd like to watch an official trailer for Teen Wolf Too, no need to howl at the moon, just click here instead and watch one on YouTube!
Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.
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