REVIEW #10 Teen Wolf (2011-2017)

Teen wolf is a supernatural teen drama, revolving around werewolves and in particular Scott McCall and his group of friends as they protect their home town of beacon hills from all kinds of supernatural threats. The series is loosely based on the 1985 film of the same name.

CAST & THE ACTING 

I think the cast is actually really good in this series, the lead, Scott, is played by Tyler Posey but the most well known actor in this series is probably the lead’s best friend Stiles who is played by Dylan O’Brien (face of the Maze runner franchise). Some of the other cast are actors such as Tyler Hoechlin, who you may know as Superman in the new Superman and Lois series, Holland Roden and Crystal Reed. The acting is good in general across the 6 seasons, understandably there is moments at the start where some of the acting is questionable but these were young actors learning their craft and they certainly grow into their roles as they go on. Dylan O’Brien is consistently good throughout which is probably why this role kickstarted his career. All the actors done really well in bringing the close knit group dynamic to life, so you really bought into the loyalty and the friendship between the characters.

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

This is another genre I really enjoy, I will say that it does get a little silly at times because it’s almost like in the end they throw any supernatural creature they can think of in there and some of these are imaginative to say the least. This is why I could only give an average score here, even though I actually really enjoyed it, I am sensitive to how other audiences may interpret those over imaginative characters. One positive of this is that each storyline for every season has something a little different which keeps it fresh. Seeing Scott develop from a ‘nerdy’ character with asthma to a strong, powerful leader is what’s at the core of all 6 season and as each one passes you see this character develop further which strengthens the overall storyline.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

The cinematography is pretty decent throughout, some good camera work to capture a wide variety of scenes but the special effects wasn’t quite up to scratch. This series was made by MTV so understandably the special effects budget wouldn’t have been high so it was never going to be a visual masterclass. It does get better as the seasons go on but I couldn’t give a very high score in this category for that reason. Don’t get me wrong it’s still enjoyable but you do have a little laugh to yourself when you see some of the CGI.

OVERALL (6.9/10)

I am a big fan of this genre and although I really enjoyed this series I have tried to push my bias to one side. The series has got even more popular since it ended in 2017, with most fans calling for it to be brought back for a season 7 and I agree with them! But the below average CGI and perhaps ‘over-imaginative’ villains is why I couldn’t give it a high score. It’s good to remember this is a teen drama so it does fit the demographic well. It might not compete with the likes of ‘The Originals’ or ‘Vampire Diaries’ but if you like this genre of TV/Film give it a go because you’ll probably really like it, despite the issues I’ve raised above.

Thanks for reading.

Callan