Now the basic story is Fox plays Scott Howard, the typical high school kid that just wants to fit in with a crowd. He plays on the basketball team, but is probably the worst player on the team. He also wants to date the popular girl, Pamela Wells (Lorie Griffin), but Pamela is dating a jerk basketball player from the rival school, Mick McAllister (Mark Arnold) and Scott doesn’t know that his childhood friend, Lisa “Boof” Marconi (Susan Ursitti) has a crush on him. I never quite understood if “Boof” is just a nickname or she likes to be called that. They never really explain, but it doesn’t matter. Since Scott doesn’t really like how his life is, everything starts to change for him when he realizes certain things happening to him. He finds a piece of hair on his chest, finds fur growing on his hands, getting pointy ears, and even getting sensitive to a dog whistle. That’s when everything changes for him that night when he transforms into a werewolf. His dad, played by James Hampton, tells him that it’s in the genes, which is very nice, isn’t it? Scott comes from a family of werewolves.
During a basketball game, they all huddle on top of Scott which is strange because that’s only something you would see in football, not basketball. That’s when Scott turns into a werewolf, and instead of everyone getting scared, they all get excited. Now Scott is the popular kid and Pamela starts to like him. Scott even tells his best friend, Rupert “Stiles” Stilinski, played by Jerry Levine, that he’s a werewolf, which for those of you who have seen “The Wolf Man” staring Lon Chaney Jr., you could see the similarities. Also, one of the team members on the basketball team is a boy by the name of Chubby, played by Mark Holton, who also played Francis on “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.” However, like the typical story, going around as a werewolf all the time causes problems and Scott has got to learn to control when he turns into a werewolf.
Like I already said, this isn’t really that great of a movie, it’s just average. If you want to see this movie, just see it for Michael J. Fox, he’s the only reason to see this movie. Other than that, there isn’t anything that really stands out to make this film really groundbreaking or even to be considered a cult classic or anything along those lines. I guess this is just one of those movies where the popularity of it was short lived, but was only around to start a line of merchandise. What I mean by this is there was a sequel and a cartoon series that I don’t think many people remember, but I wasn’t around during the time it aired on TV. I think Fox was embarrassed about playing a werewolf, but his first transformation had the makeup artists use cutaways while gradually applying the makeup between each shot, unlike in “The Wolf Man” where they applied makeup onto Lon Chaney Jr. through a series of cross-dissolves. Fox even said, “It was all about the mask work. I wanted to work with masks.”
In the end, if you want to see this movie than be my guest. You might enjoy it, but I guess it all depends on opinion. I only like Michael J. Fox in the movie, but that was just it. All of the other actors I didn’t really find fascinating. Maybe Stiles since he’s like the epitome of how the 80s were. If you look at his pants and the catchphrase T-Shirts he always wore, but the whole movie is completely covered in 80s.
The story this time doesn’t have Michael J. Fox. Instead the star this time is Jason Bateman, from the sitcoms “Silver Spoons” and “The Hogan Family” aka “Valerie” aka “Valerie’s Family,” and later “Arrested Development.” This is Bateman’s feature film debut, playing Scott’s cousin, Todd, who is starting his first year at college. Returning characters are Coach Bobby Finstock, Chubby, Stiles, and Scott’s dad Howard. Only difference is Mark Holton and James Hampton reprise their roles, but Jay Tarses, who played Coach Finstock in the first movie, is replaced by Paul Sand, and Jerry Levine is replaced by Stuart Fratkin.
Unlike the previous movie, where Scott wanted to date the popular girl while being oblivious to Boof’s affection, Todd has a girlfriend in this movie, Nikki, played by Estee Chandler. Just like the first movie, it’s the same gags and everything, which is typical among sequels that they copy the first movie all over the again. Todd is interested in becoming a veterinarian and has never been good in sports, even though he enters in college on a sports scholarship. Just like the first one, he’s on the college boxing team, and is lousy until he finds out that he is a werewolf when he transforms at the “Meet and Greet the School Alumni” night.
I can’t really say what else happens in the movie, because if you have seen the first movie, then you know exactly what happens in the sequel. James Rolfe is right when he says this feels more like a musical, since there are a few dance numbers. Also, Kim Darby is in here playing one of Todd’s professors.
My advice is if you liked the first one, avoid the sequel at all cost, there is nothing worth seeing in the movie. I’m just glad that Jason Bateman has come a long way and he’s incredibly likeable now, especially with the movie work that he has done. Bateman even calls this movie a “highly commercial B-film,” but says that B is a bit of a reach. He also likes that it’s a nice piece of kitsch now, but I think it’s still terrible.
There was also the "Teen Wolf" cartoon series, which I never watched since I wasn't around during the time it aired on TV. I only heard of this when I saw James Rolfe's review of it during his "Monster Madness 80's-a-thon."
There was also the "Teen Wolf" cartoon series, which I never watched since I wasn't around during the time it aired on TV. I only heard of this when I saw James Rolfe's review of it during his "Monster Madness 80's-a-thon."
Well anyways, it’s a good thing I got that horrible sequel out of the way, because it is one of the worst. Like I said, it tried to capitalize on the first film’s success, but failed miserably. This is probably the worst boxing movie I have ever seen. Alright, enough of that, I think I’ve gone on long enough about it. Stay tuned tomorrow for more “Halloween Month.”
No comments:
Post a Comment