Tagged: American Pie 2
American Reunion (2012)
At least my high school reunion won’t be filled with so many pervs. Then again, it probably will.
As you would expect, the plot revolves around the characters getting together for their 10-year high school reunion and struggling against the expectations of adult life. Oh, and there’s Jim’s dad being a total goof.
So after all this time of reviewing all of the past MAIN sequels (not those piece of crap straight-to-dvd flicks), I have to say that I was pretty stoked for this one. I loved all of these characters, wanted to see more of them, and finally got the chance to see them all together once again for their last hurrah and I’m glad to see this, because for some odd reason I have a feeling they’ll be back.
With an ‘American Pie’ flick, you have to realize what you’re getting yourself into right away. Yes, there will be gross-out jokes, there will be a lot of sex jokes, and there will be some way of ladies showing off some T&A. With this latest edition, the film delivers on many of the gross-out jokes as most of them hit with big laughs, while others just get a mild chuckle or two, but that’s better than no chuckle….or two. It was also funny to see this film poke fun at the high schools that we have in today’s world against theirs, and just barely different they are, except for the fact that these kids today are a lot more of assholes than maybe the ‘Pie’ gang was. No, I’m not including Stifler.
People coming in and expecting a whole bunch of emotional and sympathetic moments as if it was a reunion flick like say, ‘The Big Chill’, are in for a big surprise because not much of that is here but when it does come around, it’s surprisingly very good. The film shows us where life takes us sometimes and even though we may not be right there with one another, we all still should be there for each other in spirit. Maybe that was a little bit too weird for this review but you know what I mean. It’s just good to have a reunion flick that at least touches on something sympathetic for the most part even though it’s definitely not as good as the first one in that department.
The problem with this flick is that it is close to two hours, which may be a bit of a stretch even for a flick that is getting back all of its characters. With a tight ninety minutes, this film would have been able to deliver all of the goods on the comedic and sympathetic level, but with this close to two hour run-time, everything starts to feel a bit bloated. There were some subplots that didn’t really need to be around here such as Jim and his neighbor and Finch having problems with his life by the end, but there was still enough to fall back on so that’s all that counts.
Another problem I also felt like a lot of the jokes that they used were a little too centered towards jokes of the past movies, and sometimes they were even reused here again. I don’t know how hard it is to come up with a new dick, ass, or sex joke but once you have to start copying from your own franchise, then it starts to get a little lame but thankfully it’s not a constant or else I would have probably been rolling my eyes the whole time.
Still, when it was all said and done, this flick just made me happy to see the whole gang back together once again. Not much of these characters have grown from the last times we’ve all seen them, but they are still as fun and as lovable as they were then. Jim and Michelle are still married but are also having sexy time problems; Oz is a TV sports writer who appeared on Dancing with the Stars; Kevin is now a stay-at-home husband; Finch is as exotic and cool as he has ever been in any of the past flicks; and of course, Stifler is still a dick head amongst other things. They are all great here doing what they do best, especially Klein who actually found himself on the other end of the joke, which was a real change-up in things from the first two flicks. Oh yeah, and Eugene Levy is back as Jim’s dad and he’s just hilarious. Honestly, what else can you say about him? As for the ladies, they are all back too and make their presence known. Tara Reid is still foxy and trying her hardest to act as Vicky; Mena Suvari looks better now, than she did back then as Heather; and we also get to see Nadia back but this time, with a top on so it was a major bummer this time around. It’s just so great to see everyone back here and hangin’ around again considering all of these cast members are friends in real life so it makes this reunion all the more fun.
Consensus: Though it can drag on too long, American Reunion is still a great way to bring back the lovable and original cast with its usual, funny humor and some ounce of sympathy that makes us feel more about what may happen to us in the future and what we may be seeing at our next high school reunion. But it’s also great to just see all of the characters and cast return, especially if you loved the original American Pie.
7.5/10=Rental!!
American Wedding (2003)
Forever hold your last piece. That’s right, your last piece until the reunion.
With high school a distant memory, Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are getting married — and in a hurry, since Jim’s grandmother is sick and wants to see him walk down the aisle — prompting Stifler (Seann William Scott) to throw the ultimate bachelor party. And Jim’s dad (Eugene Levy) is reliable as ever, doling out advice no one wants to hear.
With the reunion come around soon, I thought that it would be a great idea to check out all three of the main ‘American Pie’ flicks and screw those other straight-to-dvd pieces of crap. Straight-to-dvd always blows.
Going into this flick you have to realize what you’re going to get right off the bat and that is exactly what this flick does and makes no apologies for that which is fine for me. There’s a whole bunch of gross-out gags that are actually disgusting and you can tell that the writers’ intentions are to actually make people hurl this time around. I usually don’t get disgusted by certain gags like these ones in movies, but there was one scene where it actually had me gagging just a bit. Just a bit though. Despite being disgusting though, they are still pretty funny and a couple of scenes where we find Jim and Stifler getting caught in some pretty messed up situations had me laughing just about every time they showed up. Didn’t have me laughing my ass off by any means but there was definitely a huge amount of chuckles that brought a big smile onto my face.
What I also liked about this film was how there was still an under-lining sweetness here that made all of the ugly things going on here, seem not so bad after all. In the 2nd movie, the best part of it all was the sweet, little romance Jim and Michelle had going on and every time their romance showed up it made me smile. Here, the film touches on that and it was just really great to see two sweet hearts come together and finally say their vows together. I think it’s just great to see these two finally end up perfectly together like we’ve always wanted to see them and that adds a lot to the film’s tone.
However, my main problem with this flick was that I also felt like they didn’t really focus on them that much and the film was more about Stifler then anything. Don’t get me wrong though, Stifler is the effin’ man and had me laughing with just about everything he said but it was Jim and Michelle’s wedding after all and I think they deserved moire of the spot-light. I also felt like they barely went over any of the problems that would come inside two people who were about to get married such as whether or not either of them are having cold feet or not, or just whether or not they want to go through with this. Sounds like a little bit too much to ask from an ‘American Pie’ movie but there still could have been some more here.
Seann William Scott is great as Stifler though and is easily one of the main reasons why this film works because he’s an asshole, a dick, and total pompous asshole that just wants to get some ladies in his bed but he gets to show a little bit of his nice side too. He doesn’t turn around 180 degrees and say he’s sorry for anything but he shows a bit more heart in here than we expected and that’s all that matters. Everybody else here is great too but it’s really strange how the whole original gang is all missing. I get it that not everybody wanted to come back and possibly couldn’t have for this third flick but it just felt even stranger that barely any mention of them or where they are that couldn’t make them apart of this wedding was made at all. It all just felt weird without the original gang here but then again, I guess that’s why they’re having this reunion after all so I guess that’s all that matters.
Consensus: American Wedding is exactly what you can expect from the 3rd flick of its series: gross-out humor, Stifler acting like an ass, and an under-lining sweetness. The problem with this one though is that it’s a little bit too much about Stifler and could have focused a lot more on Jim and Michelle, aka the two peeps who were actually getting married here.
7.5/10=Rental!!
American Pie 2 (2001)
Bigger and badder, but surprisingly no pastries were harmed.
After a year apart – attending different schools, meeting different people – the guys rent a beach house and vow to make this the best summer ever. As it turns out, whether that will happen or not has a lot to do with the girls.
The original is by far a classic by all means and a favorite of mine so when I was going to see this one again, I was expecting something all the same but still enjoyable enough to not hate. Thankfully, I didn’t hate it this time around but damn is it like all other sequels.
The one element about sequels is that they always do everything that they did with the original, but instead do more of that because the more the merrier, right? Well, in some cases it works here but other times, I think they really dragged on with this flick and it’s jokes. The first one was crude, but at least the crudeness came in and did its thing and made me laugh. Here, they came in, lingered around for awhile and waited till the joke was practically dead in the water and then they just gave up and went onto another scene. I can’t be too surprised considering most Hollywood sequels do this but still, it’s something that’s noticeable right away.
I’ll also point out that everything else from the characters, to the plots, to the relationships, all seemed a bit under-developed with the exception of the main relationship between Jim and Michelle. I already knew all of these characters for what all that they are and were from the first flick, so I didn’t need that much character development but there was barely any of that and instead of actually focusing on these characters, the film felt it was more important to just focus on the gross-out gags that go on way too long sometimes. And I don’t know if it was me, but did anybody else feel like all of this partying could have been much more exciting than it actually was? Then again, it’s just a thought so don’t mind me.
However, as much ish as I may be talking here I still had an enjoyable with this flick mainly because the parts that did work, really worked. There are a couple of gross-out gags that really made me laugh and there are plenty of other moments full of comedy that made me laugh just because it’s a bunch of young dudes partying, drinking, and trying to pick up girls. It’s all in good fun and there’s a couple of moments that are very memorable such as when Jim gets glue and lube mixed up, and another time where Stifler and Jim have to do a little version of “shadow” between a couple of “lesbians”. It’s all funny, trust me, even if it does seem a bit too much like a Farrelly Brothers comedy.
I also liked the focus on Jim and Michelle’s relationship that I thought made the film so much better every time they were on-screen together and I was glad that they actually did decide to go down this road. It’s such a sweet, little romance that works because they are both geeks and it’s just great to see two geeks in love even if the one is a total freak in bed and the other is just a dude who can’t seem to do anything right when it comes to getting it on. But it’s not all about the sex, it’s all about the love between two people that matters and you could feel it with this flick and it sure is believable.
As for the cast, everybody here has returned and all do great jobs with their own, respective roles. Seann William Scott gets a lot more screen-time here as Stifler and made me laugh just about every time and is definitely that one kid you would invite down to the shore with you because he has all of the moolah in the world. However, it’s great to see everybody all be friendly with each other once again and it totally serves up the whole point about this film about how we all change but we should all stick together and keep in touch. Maybe there was no point to this flick after all, but it’s always good to look in a lot more than you would expect.
Consensus: American Pie 2 features an over-abundance of what the first one did and starts to drag a lot, but the moments that worked, really made me laugh, and it was just also great to see the cast all back together doing what they do best with these likable characters.
5.5/10=Rental!!
