American Reunion, 2012

Movie Review: AMERICAN REUNION (2012)

Stars: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan
Directors: John Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
Studio:  Universal Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Rating: R

Grade: C-

The American Pie movie franchise, which started in 1999, is known for its perverted and adult-themed comedy.  That’s all well and good, and I actually loved the first two films in the franchise.  However, in 2003 when they released American Wedding, it felt like something was missing.  In actuality, there were cast members missing, namely Oz (played by Chris Kline).  The humor was the same, but it was centered on Jim and Michelle’s wedding.  It came with some funny scenes, but overall it was lackluster in comparison to its two predecessors.  Well, now the fourth installment has arrived and it focuses on the group of friends at their…13-year high-school reunion?  I mean, does that even exist?  In short, this franchise has gone from great to good to average to worse.

This time around, all of the crew is returning to East Great Falls for their reunion.  The best part about this is that all of them are in the movie, including Oz and Vicky (played by Tara Reid).  The worst part is that the jokes are all the same.  Jim is still getting caught in “sticky situations” with his masturbation techniques.  Stifler (played by Seann William Scott) and Finch (played by Eddie Kaye Thomas) are still in a feud over Stifler’s Mom (played by Jennifer Coolidge), and Jim’s Dad (played by Eugene Levy) is still having inappropriate conversations with Jim about the birds and the bees even though Jim is now married with a kid.

The plot of Reunion is driven by Jim and Michelle’s (played by Alyson Hannigan) dull cycle in their physical relationship – basically they’re not having sex since they had a kid.  Upon returning to Great Falls, they vow to rejuvenate their sex-life.  However, the young girl that Jim used to babysit next door, Kara (played by Ali Corbin), is now 18-years-old and of course hot.  So, after being nudged by Stifler, Jim starts socializing with Kara and gets himself in a little too deep, possibly threatening his marriage forever.

In being critical of Reunion, the bottom line is that I like all of these characters, but I feel like they have run their course.  Stifler is literally exactly the same as he was in 1999.  So, you’re telling me that he has not evolved even a little bit in thirteen years, or at least gotten some new material?  Hopefully this will be the last installment, even though it is a shame for them to go out like this.  There was some original material that was refreshing and I enjoyed, such as Jim’s Dad’s new friendship with Stifler’s Mom and Oz’s new-found fame as a contestant on a show similar to “Dancing with the Stars.”   There were laugh-out-loud moments, but ironically they weren’t for the cliché expected ones from these kinds of movies.  I didn’t hate it, but I am disappointed because it could have been so good.  American Pie has a lot of loyal followers from the late 90s, and it could gain some new ones that are currently going through their late-high-school, pre-college years and maybe it did.  Even though there were sparks of humor and a bit of nostalgia, the overall feeling I left with was disappointment.