Movie #116 - Teen Wolf

"He always wanted to be special... but he never expected this!"

Definitely one of those quintessential 80's movies, starring one of the more recognizable 80's actors of all time - Michael J. Fox. Fox had everything going for him during the 80's. He never seemed to age or grow up, which worked to his advantage of playing a teenager, long after he had already become an adult.

Fox has a number of 80's hit roles both on television and in the movies. Family Ties was his big television role, which he portrayed the business crazed Alex P. Keaton. After Family Ties, Fox went on to Back to the Future - which became an instant classic.

With Teen Wolf, we were starting to get to the point of over-exposure for Fox. A silly, comedy about a teenager who discovers that he is also a werewolf makes this film's storyline quite appealing and obviously brainless as well. Written by Jeph Loeb, Teen Wolf is very early on his resume.

Who is Jeph Loeb you ask? Well, he is one of the brain trusts behind some of the hottest television shows on the tube right now, ranging from Lost, Heroes, and Smallville to name a few. His writing comes from the comic book world, hence his style of storytelling involves elaborate story arcs.

Loeb's other early stuff include Commando and Teen Wolf Too. Weird combination on his resume, but definitely a sign of his multi-faceted writing capabilities to both do comedy, action, comic book story lines.

Apart from Loeb and Fox, there really isn't much more to talk about for this film. Its a silly comedy which should make you laugh, especially to see how geeky 80's teenagers were. Fortunately, I was a 90's teenager, but I know and am related to a number of 80's teenagers and I love the hair, the clothes, and the style that people thought was cool back then. Despite the resurgence of popularity of the 80's, I honestly hope at the very least, the hair does not come back with a vengeance.