Movie Thoughts: 200% Wolf (2024)

• Released: July 4, 2024
  
• Directed by: Alexs Stadermann
• Running time: 1h 38min
• Rating 2.5/5

Synopsis

Freddy Lupin makes a wish to become a true werewolf. This wish comes true, but as a result one of the Moon Spirits, Moopoo, is stuck on earth and slowly fading out. Freddy and his friends will now have to find a way to bring Moopoo back home before it's too late.

My Thoughts

Did not have particularly high hopes for this one. The first movie I liked okay but it was nothing groundbreaking. I don't think I've ever done a Movie Thoughts on it, but I did watch it last year. It was just kind of a meh movie.

This sequel...yeah, kinda is the same. There are a few things about it that are decent enough (the visuals are quite nice, I like Twitchy, Batty goes through a fun arc, and I didn't hate Max as a villain) but also like, there's a lot I don't think works at all in this movie.

Some parts of this film feel like they're semi-retcons from the last film. First of all, Freddy's evil uncle is now just a part of the pack again with no real rhyme or reason to it, his villainous actions from the last film are practically never brought up. Freddy also is constantly put down by his pack again for being a poodle, when in the last movie he gained their respect after the climax. Max, who left the wolf pack long before the events of movie one took place, is also somehow just not racist against dogs when in movie one pretty much most werewolves were very anti-dog until Freddy ended up changing their mind. So to have Max suddenly be nonchalant about the dogs feels like it somewhat contradicts the first movie where unlearning dog-racism was something the werewolves actively had to do.

Another huge issue of the movie can be summed up in one word: Moopoo. He is basically the core of the movie, the character who gets the plot going, and bringing him home to the moon is of course the main goal of the movie. Which would be fine in concept...if Moopoo wasn't an obnoxious as fuck character.

Seriously, the movie constantly wants you to root for this character because "awww he's so young and alone and slowly dying" but I felt none of this during the movie. Moopoo is just there to be a dibby; a cute merchandise-able character who makes the kids laugh and has mass appeal. But in the process they just made him horribly annoying and it really comes across like they're trying too hard to make Moopoo come across as cute and funny. His design is already quite ugly (with those weird human teeth), but then how they wrote him I just cannot stand. He is annoying, with his nonsense-speak (obviously done by a grown man in the Dutch dub) and attempts at "humor", not to mention he very often doesn't even listen to the characters he's supposed to consider his friends.

Speaking of which, the movie is also really trying to push that there's this deep friendship between Moopoo and Freddy and the gang, but, again, the way it was written didn't make it come across as such at all. Their relationships didn't feel genuine, and usually quite rushed. And then by the end of the movie it's this supposedly tearful goodbye as their "new best friend" goes home to the moon. But like, I genuinely didn't feel any friendships between these characters and Moopoo.

Heck, by the time Moopoo was dying near the climax and almost faded out I was actively rooting for him to fade, at least then we'd be rid of this obnoxious character and the movie could move on. But of course it has a happy ending. Again, the movie is otherwise pretty okay, not great but decent enough. But Moopoo brought down the entire thing for me with how poorly written and annoying he was. Especially since the film expects the viewer to care for him, which needless to say I did not.

But, again, Moopoo aside this isn't an awful movie. I was a bit sad that there was very little of the werewolves in it though (aside from Freddy being in a wolf form for most of the film this time), but it's okay. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, but it doesn't hurt to put this on for a kid, either. Just know that Moopoo brings the whole thing down, at least for me. He's far too grating.