This was one of those movies that I remember watching a few times back when I was a kid and back when Michael J Fox was still acting and I must say it is one of those eighties movies that I still have a fondness for, even though now I would probably not watch it again because despite all of the fondness that I have for the film, there is nothing really all that much about it that makes it stand out all that much. It's not as if it is The Terminator with a classic Arnold Schwartzenegger one liner, or any number of other classic eighties movies that I remember with fondness because, well, there isn't all that much about it that would make it a classic.
Basically it is about a boy in highschool who suddenly discovers that he is a werewolf, and that it is something that runs in the family. After the initial shock, he suddenly becomes really popular, and is able to take on an opposing basketball team all by himself. In fact at the beginning of the film it is very clear that the schools basketball team basically blows, and it is not until one game when he finds himself at the bottom of a stacks on that he becomes the wolf, and then goes on to win the game – single handedly.
Some have suggested that this is a subtle exploration of the nature of High School in your average American town (or suburb, or what not – it is not really made all that clear, but you could suggest that this could occur in any high school in any part of America – except for the fact that werewolves are creatures of myths and legend). Some have also suggested that it is about how, unless we are sporting heroes, or there is something important about us, that we are damned to spend our lives in obscurity. Yeah, I can see that in this film, and I can also see it as some form of subtle criticism of the American way of life (not that there is much that you can criticise), and that one is defined based not only upon how many people know who you are, but also how many people like and look up to you.
It could also be considered some form of morality tale, in that we don't need magical powers to be able to win, all we need to do is to work as a team and believe in ourselves. Well, that is all well and good, but it suggests that by doing that then we can go from being a basketball team that blows to a basketball team that can win a championship – the problem is that it never actually works out that way. Still, this is a Hollywood movie, and in the end, the hero gets the girl – the right girl, not the snivelling bitch that leads you on because you are a famous person, and she can only define herself based upon what that famous person thinks of her, and that they win the basketball game, and the evil vice-principle (it is always the vice-principle that is evil, isn't it) is put into his place, and then the movie ends. I guess that suggests that everything is sorted and everybody lives happily ever after – until the make a sequel, that is.
Basically it is about a boy in highschool who suddenly discovers that he is a werewolf, and that it is something that runs in the family. After the initial shock, he suddenly becomes really popular, and is able to take on an opposing basketball team all by himself. In fact at the beginning of the film it is very clear that the schools basketball team basically blows, and it is not until one game when he finds himself at the bottom of a stacks on that he becomes the wolf, and then goes on to win the game – single handedly.
Some have suggested that this is a subtle exploration of the nature of High School in your average American town (or suburb, or what not – it is not really made all that clear, but you could suggest that this could occur in any high school in any part of America – except for the fact that werewolves are creatures of myths and legend). Some have also suggested that it is about how, unless we are sporting heroes, or there is something important about us, that we are damned to spend our lives in obscurity. Yeah, I can see that in this film, and I can also see it as some form of subtle criticism of the American way of life (not that there is much that you can criticise), and that one is defined based not only upon how many people know who you are, but also how many people like and look up to you.
It could also be considered some form of morality tale, in that we don't need magical powers to be able to win, all we need to do is to work as a team and believe in ourselves. Well, that is all well and good, but it suggests that by doing that then we can go from being a basketball team that blows to a basketball team that can win a championship – the problem is that it never actually works out that way. Still, this is a Hollywood movie, and in the end, the hero gets the girl – the right girl, not the snivelling bitch that leads you on because you are a famous person, and she can only define herself based upon what that famous person thinks of her, and that they win the basketball game, and the evil vice-principle (it is always the vice-principle that is evil, isn't it) is put into his place, and then the movie ends. I guess that suggests that everything is sorted and everybody lives happily ever after – until the make a sequel, that is.