Directed by: Russell Mulcahy
Distributed by: Paramount+
Written by Alexander Reams
25/100
The “Teen Wolf” legacy has grown into more than just a few 1980s cult classics starring the guy from “Back to the Future.” Inspiring a surprisingly successful show on MTV that ran for six seasons, the show garnered enough popularity since its run to create a movie. Talks of a reunion and rumors of a movie revival swirled around for years until 2021 when this feature film was announced as part of Paramount Plus’ growing programming. With the creative team and artistic teams returning, everything seemed to fall into place for a proper revival of “Teen Wolf,” and then it came out. And despite social media campaigns, online promotions, and general P&A it failed to make a splash, and it’s very easy to see why.
The start of “Teen Wolf: The Movie” is an opening we’ve seen a thousand times, a mysterious figure walks into an establishment, makes vague threats, and destroys the place. It’s been done to death and director Russell Mulcahy fails to do anything original with it, the bland opening to the monstrous 140-minute runtime does it no favors, nor does it entice the viewer to continue watching. Following the clumsy opening is a montage where everyone is introduced. Starting with Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), the lead of the franchise, and while his introduction is fine, it feels wrong. Writer/Creator of the show “Teen Wolf” Jeff Davis should be familiar with the world, but if this is your introduction to the new “Teen Wolf” you’ll be left confused. The dialogue between McCall and Deaton (Seth Gilliam) is stilted, even their greetings seem to be stitched together poorly from two different takes.
Mulcahy wrings every single moment he can out of this film like it’s the last film he will ever make. It in many ways comes off as a swan song, it cannot manage to balance all of the characters it wants to, leaving people like Tyler Hoechlin pushed to the sidelines. With uneven storylines and poor direction Teen Wolf: The Movie” can’t stand on its own, and that is a problem.
“Teen Wolf: The Movie” Trailer
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