Retro Nerd Girl Movie Reviews: Teen Wolf Too 1987

From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a quick film review for you.

Today I'll be reviewing the movie Teen Wolf Too released in 1987.

Starring:
Jason Bateman, Kim Darby, and John Astin

Directed by:
Christopher Leitch

Genre:
Comedy, Fantasy

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Rating:
PG

Budget:
$3,000,000 (estimated)

Current IMDb Rating When Reviewed:
3.3

The Synopsis is:
Todd Howard wants to be a veterinarian, but he has been accepted into college unknowingly on a boxing scholarship and the only way he can get his degree is by transforming into a Wolf.

The story is a continuation of the very popular movie Teen Wolf released in 1985.

Teen Wolf Too is not 2 the number, but the word spelled “too” So the title is really Teen Wolf “as well” or Teen Wolf “again”. As in the wacky events in the first film happened again to someone else. It was a clever device to indicate to the audience that it would not be a direct sequel of what happens to the main character in the first film.

It would have been great for Michael J. Fox to return as Scott Howard, especially since the vast popularity of the Teen Wolf animated TV show following the adventures of Scott Howard and his family in High School. He just had no desire to get into the werewolf makeup again.

So naturally, without Michael J. Fox, the sequel doesn't begin where the original leaves off, but threads a new story line using Scott’s basketball coach as a catalyst to connect the two stories.

The characters in the film are hoping that Scott’s cousin Todd has the family genes to become a werewolf and lead the school team to championship. Last time it was basketball, this time it’s boxing. Last time it was High School, this time it’s college.

The most unfortunate part of the film is that it follows the original story line quite closely. A young man is an outsider at school with no athletic prowess, a bully, likes a shallow girl and has another girl who truly loves him waiting in the wings. He then discovers that he is a wolf, becomes a bit of a jerk after getting some notoriety around the school. He realizes that he is not being genuinely appreciated for being himself and he uses his human athletic heart to be a true hero in the end.

Even the transformations special effects were quite similar, but it’s OK in my book because it wouldn’t be teen wolf without that predictive formula for the time. Even the animated TV show repeated it so the fans learned to expect it.

The filmmakers just repeated the formula, but there were some changes that helped to make the experience a little new with an emphasis on comedy, sometimes even a bit of slapstick.

There was twice as much of a budget for the sequel and one area where you can see they spent a lot of money on was a big heavily choreographed musical number for the wolf to perform. It’s kind of a spectacle to see and it kind of made me smile a bit. It’s super cute.

It was nice to see James Hampton who played Scott’s dad, reprise his role in the original movie. He is Todd’s uncle in this film and he brings some familiar grounding whenever he appears on screen.

Mark Holton who played Chubby in the first returns, and he’s just as funny as ever.

They were the only two actors to return.

Jason Bateman plays Todd with a humble and earnest charm that helps to make the character likeable. It’s a tough part to play because it's hard for the audience to still root for Todd when he turns into a massive egomaniac. This movie really amps up how much of a jerk Todd gets to be, so much that when he gets a second chance to make things right, he doesn’t deserve it after all of the mean things he does with his new found popularity and success.

Jason is a well known actor now, but at the time of this film he was known for being a cute kid on a lot of sitcoms and the younger brother of Justine Bateman, who starred along with Michael J. Fox on the hit TV sitcom Family Ties. I don’t know how he came about getting the role, but I think it’s a cool connective factoid.

This was a great film debut from him though and put him in front of a lot of people who went on to be very loyal fans of his over the years.

There were a few characters that returned for the sequel that were played by different actors, like Coach Finstock and Stiles. They happened to be two of the funniest characters from the first film, but it just didn’t transfer to the sequel. They were still enjoyable though. The energy was too different and it might have been a better idea just to create new characters or omit them altogether in order to build more character development for Nikki and Jason’s science teacher who is revealed to be another werewolf.

But one character that was extremely funny and pretty much steals every scene he was in was Dean Dunn played by John Astin famous for his role as Gomez Addams from 1964-1966 in The Addams Family (TV Series). He was definitely over the top, but I think his performance was just hilariously needed.

One new element that was clear to me upon revisiting this film was that this time love is the answer.

It’s a twist on the first film, where Scott had to surmount his challenges on his own and proves he has the heart to win.

Nicki played by Estee Chandler, loves Todd for being himself and it is love that ultimately gives him the strength to win. Aw, isn’t that sweet!

Did you know that there were talks of a Teen Wolf 3 starring Alyssa Milano as a teen wolf girl playing football in high school that fell through. That would have been interesting to see.

Alyssa Milano

It was not just because of the low box office result in Teen Wolf Too that 3 was aborted, but the waning interest in the Teen Wolf franchise, because the last animated episode of the TV show sadly ended in 1988.

Some people flat out disliked this movie because it was a sequel without Michael J. Fox. That’s totally understandable. He’s a national treasure for crying out loud.

Or maybe they were just interested in the story being about Scott Howard and his life as a Teen Wolf and introducing Todd was a conflict to their fantasies about the Teen Wolf universe. That is a possibility.

The other reason for the lack of interest was that the film wasn't as groundbreaking enough being a near repeat of the same events and special effects.

I think would have been cool to have gone back in time and seen how it was for Scott’s dad back in the 50’s when he was a teen, introduce a secret society of werewolves and the supernatural explanation behind it, explain why they don’t eat humans, what balance are they trying to maintain in their ranks, are there other supernatural beings and go deeper into the lore.

Teen Wolf 1985

When audiences love something, you’ve got a finite time to pull them deeper into the universe you are building. You can’t keep spinning them on the surface or they will jump ship to the next thing they can dive into. I think that is why this wasn’t as successful as it could have potentially been.

In the vacuum of time some of us out here that still think fondly of this film and actually found it to be quite enjoyable. It’s packed with cheesy comedy, great 80’s montages within montages, fun moments, and a moral code to be true to who you are as we remember the last cry of the Teen Wolf movie franchise in the 1980’s.