Review of American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005) by Bradley F — 13 Jan 2009

Band Camp is the fourth installment of the American Pie series. This particular movie follows the adventures of Matt Stiffler, who is trying to follow in his brother's footsteps. His antics land him on a trip to Band Camp, where it is hoped that he will bond with the band in an attempt to begin modifying his behavior.

This movie is sort of a transitional period for the series. The first three movies deal with the original characters. The comedy is cleaner and more mature. The last three American Pie movies deal with the next generation of kids. The feel of the movies remains roughly the same and characters from the first three movies are mentioned to maintain continuity. Also, there are a few appearances by Mr. Levenstein (Eugene Levy), Jim's dad, in the last three movies.

The humor in Band Camp is slightly more crude than in the first three movies, though no less funny. It seems to have set the downward trend for the last two movies, which became even more crude in their humor, and also resorted to gratuitous nudity as an added attractor. Not that there's anything wrong with crude humor and gratuitous nudity. I only mention it in saying that this is the point where the true spirit of the original three films began to slide away.

That aside, the movie does have its up points. It deals with issues like breaking tradition, social integration, learning to go beyond stereotypes, and love. This is a feel good movie where the "hero" bungles his way through until realizing what's important to him, complete with a happy ending and romance for all.