I’m Lycan It: New Telefilm Teen Wolf: The Movie Has A Nice Bite To It ...
Review by Arnold Wayne Jones
Courtesy of Paramount+
Temps outside may be chilly, but over at the Paramount+ streaming service things are hot – downright steamy. That’s ever since the premiere of Teen Wolf: The Movie. Now. if you’re over 30, you’re probably thinking, “Teen Wolf was already a movie... back in the ’80s!” (You’re subscription to AARP Magazine is being rushed to you as you read this.) No, no, we’re talking about the movie following the Millennial angsty TV soaper Teen Wolf, which debuted on MTV (yeah, they don’t show music videos there either, old timer!) more than a decade back and ran for six seasons. The series was nothing like the excruciating low-budget Michael J. Fox comedy, which probably only got a release because Back to the Future was a smash a few months earlier.
Courtesy of Paramount+
What led series creator Jeff Davis to revisit that stale chestnut and rebrand it as a quasi Twilight rip-off is unfathomable, but hey, good for him... especially because the series bore so little similarity to its source material. Set in sleepy-yet-steamy Beacon Hills, the plot revolved around young Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), a dewey-eyed high school emo-hunk who, after being bitten by a werewolf, has to cope with puberty and lycanthropy. But he soon uncovered a host of supernatural shenanigans, including that his clique was populated by banshees, kitsune, hellhounds, werecoyotes (who knew?) and other mystical terrors. It was all brooding teen glances and PG flirtations.
Truth be told, I barely ever caught an episode when it was on. It fell in that netherworld of sincere adolescent dramas like Riverdale, Charmed, Smallville, Pleasant Landing, Supernatural, Supergirl, Gossip Girl and yada yada. They all ran together. (Don’t believe me? I made up one of those titles.)
I’ll say, though, I feel like I might have missed out on that one, because the reboot of the series as a two-hour-plus movie had me hooked, even without a deep understanding of the plot or characters. Most of the original cast returns to pick up where the series left off, with Scott’s dead ex-girlfriend seemingly resurrected by a terrifying creature with a devious plot, although nobody is quite sure what his plan is.
Courtesy of Paramount+
One of the few newcomers – and the only one who even comes close to qualifying as a teen as the title promises – is Eli Hale (Vince Mattis), son of ageing alpha Derek Hale (Tyler Hoechlin). Eli is born to be a werewolf, but in the lupine equivalent of not having his balls drop, has yet to undergo his hoped for transformation, making him crabby and unpleasant to be around – i.e., a typical teenager. (The metaphors do not run deep.) He’s roped by dad and Scott into helping out though, and you’ll never guess whose eyes burn yellow before the closing credits. Hey, predictability can be a comfort, especially in TV.
Teen Molf: The Movie feels like it could be the launching point for a new Teen Wolf series with a new, younger cast (though there’s already a related spin-off, Wolf Pack, airing on Paramount+), but it exists as more than an overstuffed pilot. The special effects are impressive. The scares, when they come, scary! The plotting twisty and surprising.
Courtesy of Paramount+
And then there’s the hotness quotient that I led off with. Tyler Posey has matured from dreamboat to tramp steamer – harder, beefier, sexier. His cohorts – male and female, older and younger, of assorted races and sexualities – mostly all smolder seductively. I can see why youngsters loved the show when it was originally on, but the movie/streaming service upgrade allows more foul language and outright sex (butts and pecs!).
Will this spawn another series? Who knows. But it certainly kept this older guy entertained on a cold winter’s night. Who doesn’t wanna snuggle up with a furry alpha to stay warm?
Now streaming on Paramount+
Wesley Smoot & Shelley Hennig at Teen Wolf: The Movie After Party
Wesley Smoot at Teen Wolf: The Movie Premiere Hollywood, California
First-Look Images for Billy Porter’s Directorial Debut ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE – Globally on Prime Video July 22
Launching Globally on July 22 Exclusively on Prime Video
Anything’s Possible is a delightfully modern Gen Z coming-of-age story that follows Kelsa, a confident high school girl who is trans, as she navigates through senior year. When her classmate Khal gets a crush on her, he musters up the courage to ask her out, despite the drama he knows it could cause. What transpires is a romance that showcases the joy, tenderness, and pain of young love.
Director: Billy Porter
Written by: Ximena García Lecuona
Producers: Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Andrew Lauren, D.J. Gugenheim
Executive Producers: Ximena García Lecuona, Billy Porter, Allison Rose Carter
Music by: Leo Birenberg
Executive Music Producers: Billy Porter, Justin Tranter
Cast: Eva Reign, Abubakr Ali, and Renée Elise Goldsberry
Genre: Romance, Coming-of-Age Drama
Rating: PG-13 for strong language, thematic material, sexual material, and brief teen drinking
Soundtrack on Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
#AnythingsPossible
