American Reunion

It was kind of implied that American Wedding was the conclusion to the American Pie series, but American Reunion brings the group back together to attend their high school reunion. The plot doesn’t really go much deeper than that. They’re still perverted, ridiculous antics ensue and somehow Eugene Levy is in the middle of them. The cast is obviously so used to these characters and how to play them, they come across as better actors than they probably are.

Reunion maintains a theme of revisiting the 90s, since they were the class of ’99. Music from the 90s is used at their 90s themed reunion. But more subtly, the film maintains the feeling of that era’s comedy. The raunchy episodes resolved with touching moments have a very nostalgic feel to them. It is quite a feat that such awkward moments and stupid situations occur while maintaining the audience’s sympathy.

All the main characters develop enough to give the movie a purpose, but none of the arcs develop the characters very much. Maybe Sean William Scott’s, Stifler, who seems to finally figure out why people find him so annoying. The other stand out is Chris Klein, who does mope around a lot, but he shows that Oz belongs in the franchise after being left out of the previous film.

American Reunion runs a bit long and plays on some tired gags, but fans of the originals will enjoy the film. Smaller roles return with cameos throughout and loose ends more than ten years in the making are finally tied up. The trip down memory lane is fun, though it would be nice to see some new concepts thrown in there. The movie ends with the viewer hoping for another sequel, but I don’t really see that happening successfully.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.