“Teen Wolf: The Movie” Review
Photo credit to Paramount+
Written by: Gracie Lowes
The pack is back in Beacon Hills!
MTV Entertainment Studios and MGM have teamed up to bring the Beacon Hills pack back to fans’ screens with “Teen Wolf: The Movie.”
The film stars some familiar names for fans of the original tv show, such as Tyler Posey, Holland Roden, Dylan Sprayberry, Colton Haynes, Tyler Hoechlin, Shelley Hennig, Melissa Ponzio, Ryan Kelley, JR Bourne, Linden Ashby, Orny Adams, Khylin Rhambo, Ian Bohen and even Crystal Reed, and also introduces up-and-coming stars Vince Mattis, who plays Eli Hale and Amy L. Workman who plays Hikari Zhang.
The movie starts off in true Teen Wolf style, a mysterious individual approaches Liam Dunbar and Hikari Zhang at the restaurant they work at. The figure doesn’t say much to the duo, only a simple riddle “when is a door not a door?” which leads into the first big fight sequence of the movie, that ultimately ends with a lot of bloodshed and the release of a dark entity, known as a Nogitsune (a Void Kitsune who feeds on chaos, pain, and strife.)
Flash forward 15 years after Allison Argent’s death, and we meet a grown Scott McCall who still is working alongside Dr. Alan Deaton (some things never change). After a busy day at the animal shelter, Scott’s world is shaken when Allison appears alive and scared at his door, the only problem is she disappears in a blink of an eye. As we later find out, Chris Argent, Allison’s father, has been having the same visions as Scott. After talking about their visions where they both heard the word “Bardo” (which means a state between life and death), the pair decide that it’s time to get the entire pack back together and travel back to Beacon Hills for answers.
Once back in Beacon Hills, we are quickly introduced to Eli Hale, as he’s stealing a Jeep which was once owned by Stiles Stilinski. After Deputy Jordan Parrish sees the Jeep driving by, he’s quick to notify the new Deputy to the team, Mason Hewitt, who informs both Sheriff Stilinski and their now “consultant” Derek Hale.
While Scott and Mr. Argent head back to Beacon Hills, Lydia Martin (who is now a powerful businesswoman) has her own type of vision that helps her to draw a picture which holds the instructions for an important and ancient ritual that Scott needs for his journey to uncover the truth. Once everyone is back in Beacon Hills and the characters have a heartwarming reunion, it’s time to get down to business.
The group goes on a journey together to find the pieces they need for the ritual to bring Allison back to the world of living, instead of her being stuck in Bardo. Once the pieces are found and Eli helps them find an ancient tree trunk (that many fans will remember from the show), they start the ritual. Much like wolf transformations, the ritual has to be done on the full moon, which forces the group to think they missed their opportunity when nothing happens after they put all the pieces together. This couldn’t be further from the truth when they turn around and realize that Allison did come back to life, but at what cost? And what else came with her?
Photo: Curtis Bonds Baker/MTV Entertainment ©2022 PARAMOUNT GLOBAL. All Rights Reserved.
From amazing action sequences that keep viewers on the edges of their seats, intense reunions and memories, to unexpected twists and turns, and heartbreaking death, this film has everything.
As a fan of the tv show, I wasn’t sure how they were going to pull off a full movie, six seasons, and five years later. After watching the film and getting to see these actors back on the screen, it’s amazing to see how much growth has happened, not story-wise but talent-wise, as well.
Even though he was just introduced to the “Teen Wolf” world, in my opinion, Vince Mattis gave one of the best performances in the film. It’s clear from the first time we meet Eli that Vince put his entire effort into building and perfecting this character, from his teenage angst and witty banter with Tyler Hoechlin, to the heartfelt scenes when you could see and feel every emotion in his face. It was all around an amazing performance and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for both his character and him as an actor.
Photo: James Dimmock/Paramount+ © 2022 Paramount. All Rights Reserved.
As for the rest of the cast, they all had amazing performances, as well. Everyone stepped back into their character so easily I often forgot while watching the movie, that the show even ended back in 2017. From the pure excitement in their eyes when they all reunited and got to collaborate again, even if it was for a dark and mysterious reason, to the struggles they faced such as learning to live with grief, remembering where you’re from, and just learning to navigate the adult world. This cast gave this film their all, so that both they and the fans can enjoy and reminisce about the movie.
Although I loved the acting in the film, I wasn’t the biggest fan of certain CGI (computer generated image) scenes. Since the show originally aired, obviously makeup and CGI have developed over time and become elaborate. One example is the wolf makeup and CGI, it looked realistic on the actors and still stayed true to the original wolf look from the show. I found that some scenes, like the one which took place on a hill overlooking the town, looked rough, fake, and kind of cringe. For me, it took away from the importance of the scene because I was so drawn to the background and the surrounding set, rather than what was going on with the characters.
Another point was when Malia transformed from a wolf to a human, the whole thing just felt very rushed and it looked kind of unnatural, compared to her background and surroundings of the shot. Other than those small parts in the two-hour-long movie, I’d have to say the rest made up for it.
I’ve always been a huge fan of “Teen Wolf” and Jeff Davis, so I enjoyed this film. It was a great way to bring fan-favourite characters back to the screen, while still having a storyline that makes sense and doesn’t feel forced. Although the film did kill off one amazing character and was missing a few people from the original cast, I would still give this movie a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars.
For more “Teen Wolf: The Movie” coverage make sure to check out my interviews with cast members Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Holland Roden, Shelley Hennig and Melissa Ponzio.
