Teen Wolf Presents ......
Despite coming nearly 2 decades before we got the "American Pie" movies and the subsequent straight to DVD spin-offs "American Pie Presents ....", "Teen Wolf Too" reminds me strongly of these spin-offs. The reason being is that although the main theme of the original "Teen Wolf" is carried on into this sequel it features a new cast and characters unsurprisingly connected by blood to the originals, with a few familiar faces returning in minor roles and a storyline which feels very much a rehash of the original. There is absolutely nothing new other than the faces in "Teen Wolf Too" and is as entertaining as the original which to be frank wasn't hugely impressive anyway.
When Todd Howard (Jason Bateman - Paul) heads off to University he has more on his mind than just fitting in, he's worried that he may have inherited the werewolf gene which his cousin Scott and his Uncle Harold (James Hampton - Pump Up the Volume) live with. Whilst trying to study Todd also has to participate in the boxing ring as the unscrupulous coach, aware of his strange family history, has arranged for him to have a scholarship. Of course the werewolf inside him finds its way out and suddenly the slightly timid Todd becomes the most popular kid in college.
As already mentioned "Teen Wolf Too" feels very much like a rehash of "Teen Wolf" except this time we have Todd Howard the cousin of Scott and he is well aware of his family's strange ability of changing into werewolves. Plus this time it's moved on from being set in high school and is now set at a college. They are the only differences between this and the original and again focuses on Todd becoming Mr. Popular when he becomes the werewolf only to realise who is true friends are with a little help from Uncle Harold passing on some fatherly type advice in a sort of Mr. Levenstein way. Is all this familiarity and rehashing a disappointment? Well not really because the original movie wasn't so great that this feels inferior more like much of the same, mildly entertaining but not brilliant.
What is noticeable this time is that the prosthetics used to turn Todd into a werewolf are a huge improvement on the original and doesn't make him look like a "Planet of the Apes" reject. Although they still maintain that humorous element to them so that it's by no means a scary werewolf, in fact there seems to be a greater emphasis on making being a werewolf amusing with a twist which is by no means a shock but adds to all the slight amusement.
What for me is the best thing about "Teen Wolf Too" is that Michael J. Fox and his character of Scott has been dispatched with, not that I dislike Fox but the first movie played far too much on his popularity and likeability factor. Instead we have Jason Bateman as cousin Todd and whilst again the movie plays very much on Bateman's strength, that many young girls will fancy him, the fact he hadn't had a major movie at this point in his career doesn't feel like a movie powered purely by Bateman. As for his performance well in many ways it's better than Fox's, but that maybe due to the better werewolf makeup than anything else.
Elsewhere we see James Hampton returning to dish out that fatherly advice as Uncle Harold and Mark Holton returning as chubby although his contribution is seriously limited to being in the back ground and doing his John Candy impersonations. The character of Stiles returns but where Jerry Levine was entertaining in the first movie he is replaced by Stuart Fratkin who seems to be mimicking Scott Baio in both performance and looks. All of this doesn't really matter as like with the original "Teen Wolf Too" is all about the character of Todd and so all about Jason Bateman.
What this all boils down to is that because the first "Teen Wolf" was not a brilliant movie "Teen Wolf Too" easily matches up to it and is pretty much on a par. Yes it rehashes pretty much everything from the first movie, just changing the central character and location but it's pleasantly entertaining and to be frank Jason Bateman does a more than admirable job in the movie, even if he spends much of it behind layers of latex and fur.
