American Reunion

Even before going to see American Reunion you could pretty much guess the entire screenplay. Yep, they’re all now some sort of combination of older, married, kids in tow etc….but what’s this? They’re suddenly tempted by old flames, younger women and the chance for old school hijinks? Do they indulge or does maturity pull them back from the brink? As this is basically a message movie I don’t blame the producers for churning out such sign posted fare, but surely a few proper road bumps for the characters would have added a bit more intrigue? Not that fans will care as they’ll just want to see who Sean William Scott insults first. So welcome back Jim, Stifler...and, err, you know, the rest of them. In fact, this is what struck me most when watching the film, i.e. just what non-descript careers they’ve all had on the big screen (Thomas Ian Nicholas, anyone?). Despite the lazy scripting and laboured plotting this does have its moments, including a extended sequence where a terrified Jim has to smuggle a drunk teenage female back into her parents house and some smart put downs of TV dance shows and the cheesiness of US sports presenters. Also, if you want your fill of gross out humour there’s plenty in here for you to “enjoy” (unsurprisingly, mainly involving Stifler), but too many times the humour is just plain mean and tonally out of synch with the rest of the film (and arguably the series). The charm and youthful folly of the characters in American Pie meant we could sympathise with them. Now it’s just a case of stop moaning and grow up. There could have been more to this, but overall the film just feels like a rush job and any ideas that stray from the template just don’t convince. To see how far the series has fallen can be seen by a simple comparison of the directors of the first film and this. American Pie had the Weitz brothers (who went on to make simple, but enjoyable fare like In Good Company and About A Boy) behind the camera, whereas this one has the duo of Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. What do you mean you’ve never heard of them? They’re the “brains” behind the Harold and Kumar film series! ‘nuff said.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Worth watching for fans I suppose, but apart from a near unrecognisable Rebecca De Morney cameo, nothing worth noting for the rest of us. Rating: 4/10.