American Reunion

Starring: Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Eugene Levy, Seann William Scott, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Alyson Hannigan, Tara Reid, Ali Cobrin, John Cho, Jennifer Coolidge, Natasha Lyonne, Dania Ramirez, Katrina Bowden, Jay Harrington, Shannon Elizabeth, Neil Patrick Harris
Directed by: John Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) head back home for their high school reunion, reuniting with the old gang and discovering that while many things, some things never do.

Review:

Tim: I have always had a soft spot for the American Pie movies. While I don't immediately think of these as great films, I've thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them so far. I was interested in seeing American Reunion, the fourth film in the franchise (I completely ignore the direct-to-DVD ones). While this film is again a solid effort, it's not quite as good as the original trilogy. Still, I found this to be a good movie.

The thing I like most about this film is that we've really come to know these characters over three films and thirteen years. It's been fun watching them grow up on screen, and every new film feels like a chance to reunite and check in with them again. So, the whole reunion thing works perfectly for this franchise, because the audience gets the same chance to reunite with characers we haven't seen in a while. It was great to see that they really went all out to get everybody back for this film.

Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan are once again the central characters in the film. I felt like Hannigan got a bit of the short end of the stick in this film, but their relationship has always been the heart of these films. Seann William Scott does again work well as Stifler, but I can't help but feel like his character has gotten a bit silly. He used to be my favorite part of these films, but it almost felt like his character was stuck in the past. Yes, he should always be vulgar and offensive, but he needs to grow up some, too. It was fun seeing Thomas Ian Nicholas and Eddie Kaye Thomas, although I didn't love either of their stories here. It was good to see Chris Klein and Tara Reid back, although they are both pretty bad actors, and that shows on screen. I was glad Mena Suvari came back, and thought she did a fairly good job here. There are certainly quite a few other actors in the supporting cast, but I don't need to comment on all of them. I'll just say that it was great seeing the whole gang back together on screen.

I was surprised that this film wasn't as funny as the previous ones. All of the American Pie movies have at least a few truly hilarious, unforgettable moments. This one did have the cooler/jet ski scene, which was my favorite of the whole film, but not much else. There were long stretches of the film that did not feel very funny at all. I wanted more laughs. Yes, the characters have grown up and the jokes need to evolve as well, but the script still needed to be funny. I felt like the film was far too short on the laughs.

The best part of the movie is when it considers what growing up does to us. In the first film, sex was the number one priority on everyone's mind. While that is still important thirteen years later, there are careers, marriages, children, dreams, disappointments, and a lot else to contend with as well. I thought the film did a good job capturing these characters as they looked back on the past, took stock of their current life situation, and thought about the promise of the future. That was one of my favorite aspects of the film, and one of the reasons I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, this is the worst movie in the franchise yet. Now, this is not to say that the American Pie movies should end. I'd definitely like to check in on the characters five or eight years from now, and I do hope they continue making these films from time to time. However, the next film definitely needs to right the ship. Even still, while this franchise might not have any classic films left in its arsenal, a good fourth film (like this one) is still pretty hard to come by today. I did enjoy this movie, and I hope to see more films some day.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
American Pie, American Pie 2, American Wedding, 10 Things I Hate About You, Loser, American Beauty, Road Trip, Eurotrip