Review No.69: American Pie - Reunion

So onto another cheap Tuesday screening and thankfully another fairly empty cinema thanks to the fact most people are at work. This week it was time to revel in nostalgia as I relived my adolescence with the return to the American Pie franchise with American Reunion. Though the claim is that this reunites the cast after thirteen years in fact the third instalment of the franchise went out in 2003 while Eugene Levy has sullied the name of the pie even further by constantly starring in straight-to-DVD rip-offs. The reunion sees all of the cast older, though some don't look it, but not necessarily wiser and in some cases they haven't changed at all. Jim and Michelle are now married with a kid however their sex-life is non-existent, Kevin is also married but has become almost too domesticated, Oz is a sports caster as well as being a minor celebrity thanks to his appearance on a dance show and Finch has seemingly disappeared. Then there's Stifler whose not changed one iota still the obnoxious goofball who once was in high school he's now doing temp work and having to answer to a boss who he absolutely hates. When their reunion comes up all four decide to meet up without informing a jealous Stifler thinking that he would go about ruining things in addition all four look at their yearbook to see where they wanted to be at this time in their lives and to see how near they are to fulfilling those dreams. Along the way Oz and Heather still discover they have the chemistry they once had despite them both having partners, Kevin also comes face to face with Vicky while Jim tries to help out his now widowed father move on with his life.

It seems apt that American Reunion is review number 69 as that's the kind of infantile humour that the writers of the film seem to enjoy. From Stifler pooing into a coolbox to Jim wearing some leather chaps everything here seems oddly familiar however I would've like some of the heart that made the original American Pie so appealing. Instead we get an oddly unsettling story in which the girl who Jim used to babysit, who has now turned 18, wants to have sex with him and several times almost succeeds. There are some sweeter moments usually involving Jim and his dad but that's mainly because Jason Biggs and Eugene Levy have great chemistry together. I think I enjoyed this film more than it deserved because of the nostalgia element seeing John Cho as the milf guy, the return of the Sherminator and Shannon Elizabeth's Nadia or made me feel oddly attached to the past as did the sounds of Lit's 'My Own Worst Enemy' and James' Laid. The end of the film sees all of the lads problems dealt with some of them have found new love while some of them have found ways to move on with their lives however there is the worrying feeling that they'll now do this every year. I would suggest leaving the next film for another ten or fifteen years when everybody actually looks older and not just like they've grown beards to signify their maturity.

Verdict: A really hard one to score because of the nostalgia element it probably doesn't deserve it but I'm going to give it nonetheless a 5.5/10