Film Daze

I enjoyed American Pie.  It’s been a while, so maybe it doesn’t hold up, but I was something that struck a chord when I was that age. The idea behind American Reunion sounded kinda interesting, but I’m not really surprised at the result.

American Reunion is essentially American Pie. The majority of the film is just a trip down memory lane. A lot of call backs to the previous films. Some where kinda cool nostalgic moments, particularly the talks between Jim and his dad. The nostalgia worked. It was just cool to see the characters reflecting on some of the pivotal moments from the previous films. It was also nice to see them addressed some of the technology changes. I actually wish they had done more of that. Really, when you look at it, a lot has changed technology wise since ’99.

I didn’t feel like anything new was brought to the film though. The jokes were the same, but the characters were just older. Nothing important happened and the movie didn’t really add anything to the previous films. There were opportunities, but they were passed over for gags from previous films. Some of the laughs were okay, but not anything special.

Part of the problem is that these characters are not in high school or college. Even forgoing their age, it just didn’t mesh. It felt too much like the film was trying to force the characters to relive “glory” days, but that really wasn’t even it. These guys are entering their thirties and not really acting that different from the eighteen year old versions of themselves, which might have been okay if the gags were different from previous films.

Eugene Levy was great as always though. Jim’s dad is the best. I really wish they would’ve done more with him.

Overall, it was kinda nice to see the characters “grown up” a bit, but I wish they would’ve skipped it. Wasn’t worth it in the end.