In “Teen Wolf: The Movie,” there aren’t as many teen wolves as in “Wolf Pack,” a series premiering that same day, produced by the same team, and on the same streaming service. It is not a spinoff of “Teen Wolf,” but rather an adaptation of a book series based on a novel. Both Paramount+ projects ultimately feel pretty toothless, so get in line if it sounds confusing.
After utilizing the title of the 1985 Michael J. Fox film to set its own course, “Teen Wolf” went for six seasons on MTV, ending in 2017, with a soap-opera-style world filled with supernatural creatures such as werewolves, banshees, hellhounds and shapeshifters.
Most of the characters from “Teen Wolf: The Movie” return, including Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed and Tyler Hoechlin, who graduated from the supernatural to superhero in “Superman & Lois” on The CW.
Teen Wolf returns to its mythology in a new movie directed by Russell Mulcahy and produced by Jeff Davis. In an interview with SFX magazine, Davis likened the movie to a seventh season of the show, and at well over two hours it feels that way. Yet the production values rely too much on stylized slow motion which deadens the action.
In a new movie directed by Russell Mulcahy and produced by Jeff Davis, Teen Wolf returns to its mythology. As Davis told SFX magazine, the movie feels like a seventh season of the show, and at about two hours it does. However, the production values rely too much on stylized slow motion, deadening the action.
In the strange set-up, a raging California wildfire snarls traffic, cutting off motorists that include a bus full of high school students. During the ensuing chaos something feral and deadly emerges from the surrounding smoke, killing some of those unluckily trapped by the disaster and leaving two of the teens bitten.
Those teens, Everett (Armani Jackson) and Blake (Bella Shepard), begin to experience unexpected side effects from that encounter, ranging from new-found vitality to six-pack abs and a cure for acne. But they’re slow (very, very slow) to grasp what’s happening to them, which also puts them at risk of being killed by the same creature that has already claimed two lives.
As a means of generating media attention, the show throws in a supporting role for Sarah Michelle Gellar, who knows a little bit about supernatural teen dramas, and even makes “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fans feel old. The arson investigator Gellar (who receives an executive producer credit) is convinced that Everett may know more about the cause of the fire than he’s revealing.
It’s hard to tell if Paramount has given “Wolf Pack” a dog-leg up or cursed it by pairing it with “Teen Wolf,” but the mystery built into the new series does not do much initially to suggest a similarly lengthy run is in store. The show doesn’t generate much heat despite a lot of fire in the first few episodes.
