TEEN WOLF (1985) / TEEN WOLF TOO (1987)
By Shannon Roberts, 02-23-09
Teen Wolf is silly. It’s just…silly.
Michael J. Fox is a teenage werewolf who plays basketball. This is a ridiculous premise. I mean, wouldn’t the interscholastic basketball association have some rules about a player being a wolfman?
Here’s how it breaks down: Scott Howard (Michael J. Fox) is unpopular and bad at basketball. His friend Lisa, aka “Boof,” has the hots for him, but she’s a brunette, so he doesn’t notice how cute she is. Scott likes the hot blonde who won’t give him the time of day. Scott suddenly discovers that he is a werewolf (technically he’s a shape-shifter, since he can change at will). Now he’s good at basketball and the hot blonde wants to give him a tumble. In the end, Scott learns an important lesson about being yourself.
Which brings us to Teen Wolf Too.
Now don’t think for a moment that this sequel is just a rehash of the original.
First of all, Todd Howard (Scott’s cousin, played by Arrested Development’s Jason Bateman) is in college, not high school, and Todd’s a boxer, not a basketball player.
Here’s how it breaks down: Todd Howard is a science nerd who has mysteriously received an athletic scholarship to Hamilton University despite the fact that he’s bad at boxing. First he meets the hot bitchy blonde, then he meets the cute smart brunette. Todd, who had been hoping that the werewolf gene had skipped his generation, discovers that he’s a wolf. Now he’s good at boxing, the hot blonde wants to give him a tumble, but Todd must learn an important lesson about being yourself.
Totally different, right?
Part morality tale, part commentary on the educational system, part love story, Teen Wolf Too has it all: a rousing game of Fetch, a biology class “frog fight,” and a study montage set to the tune of Real Life’s “Send Me an Angel,” not to mention such biting dialogue as “My reputation as an educator is riding on this boxing team” and “I just had a beard all over my body!”
Despite Todd’s reluctance to embrace his birthright, he finds that being a teen wolf has its advantages. Not only do his skills as a pugilist improve, but he can mash potato, he can do the twist, and he makes sure to leave no doubt in our minds as to the validity of these claims by proving them in a choreographed dance number to “Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance).”
There is still one major flaw in the plot of this film: wouldn’t the intercollegiate boxing association have some rules about a boxer being a wolfman? I mean, isn’t it a bit like cheating? Sure, we all want to see the cocky asshole with the license plate that says NOK OUT get his ass handed to him, but really, fair is fair.
In the cases of both Teen Wolf and Teen Wolf Too the nostalgia factor is high (I found myself yearning for my lost Scrunchie and wondering if that can of Aqua Net was still good…) but I can’t help but question whether or not they could survive on their own without the aid of wistful reminiscence. I’m leaning toward not. But hey, if leggings and side ponytails can find a home in this new millennium, perhaps there’s a place for Teen Wolf, too. And Teen Wolf Too, too.
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