OK so when Jim had sex with a pie in the original American Pie, it was the most cringe worthy, most funny moment I'd had with a teen comedy up to that point. Up till this point though the only teen comedies around were Clueless, Ferris Bueller and a few unworthy imitations. Since American Pie dazzled with its gross out and sexually charged humour, other teen films have come in to take up the mantle. Napoleon Dynamite, Mean Girls and Easy A have stolen American Pie's thunder in teen comedy and Bridesmaids and The Hangover have stolen it in gross out. But can American Pie reclaim its prior glory.
Well firstly the leads are a little old to come under teen comedy, despite them harking back to the old days, the characters have moved on a bit. The moving on is superficial and to be honest only Jim and Stiflers story lines have any impact whatsoever, so no it won't be taking the crown back. The film was unbelievably predictable, you could see the ending right from the beginning, but the ride was still enjoyable. There were some very funny moments, the opening scenes have always been among the funniest in the series and this one really did make me giggle. Its all crude stuff and you know it's going to be, of course Stifler takes crude to a new level and always has, but that's what makes his character so lovable.
American Pie Reunion doesn't quite have the ingenuity that Horrible Bosses has, nor the surprise that The Hangover has, nor the wit of Easy A or even the believable friendships that Bridesmaids has. What it does have is nostalgia, and it works by reminding the audience of what has gone before it. Yes it is funny, but with the characters ageing ten years the style of comedy could have been a little more inventive. But then again is this what the audience wants or is that just me?
One thing that stood out to me as rather annoying, is making the gay people in the film the butt of the joke. In this day and age, with American's finally coming round to equality to homosexuality, it's so backwards to see gay people used in this way.
In the end it all works out though. I like the American Pie series and my expectations were low, but you know what it actually exceeded my expectations. Yes there's no real storyline, little character development and predictable jokes, but the film intention was to make me laugh and it did just that.
Well firstly the leads are a little old to come under teen comedy, despite them harking back to the old days, the characters have moved on a bit. The moving on is superficial and to be honest only Jim and Stiflers story lines have any impact whatsoever, so no it won't be taking the crown back. The film was unbelievably predictable, you could see the ending right from the beginning, but the ride was still enjoyable. There were some very funny moments, the opening scenes have always been among the funniest in the series and this one really did make me giggle. Its all crude stuff and you know it's going to be, of course Stifler takes crude to a new level and always has, but that's what makes his character so lovable.
American Pie Reunion doesn't quite have the ingenuity that Horrible Bosses has, nor the surprise that The Hangover has, nor the wit of Easy A or even the believable friendships that Bridesmaids has. What it does have is nostalgia, and it works by reminding the audience of what has gone before it. Yes it is funny, but with the characters ageing ten years the style of comedy could have been a little more inventive. But then again is this what the audience wants or is that just me?
One thing that stood out to me as rather annoying, is making the gay people in the film the butt of the joke. In this day and age, with American's finally coming round to equality to homosexuality, it's so backwards to see gay people used in this way.
In the end it all works out though. I like the American Pie series and my expectations were low, but you know what it actually exceeded my expectations. Yes there's no real storyline, little character development and predictable jokes, but the film intention was to make me laugh and it did just that.