Review of American Reunion (2012) by Spencer S — 07 Jul 2013

This franchise has been rushing through sequels and unrelated projects with the same ease as National Lampoon, and yet here again we're heading back to high school with the original cast of the first film.

Though the other two sequels did a decent job of pulling through a storyline, included bucketfuls of laughs, and addressed the actual personalities of its characters, this one does not. While the other sequels dealt with the limited scope of its lead characters and was able to show juvenile people without making the raunchiness seem unnecessary, this film cannot recreate that magic.

These characters are now full-fledged adults, and none of them are interesting, funny, or even superficially entertaining. Jim and Michelle are undersexed parents, Stifler is an abused temp, Kevin has no worries, and Finch is underused and given very little screen time except to fish around for compliments.

The original film was enjoyable because it spoke about teenage encounters and the irritation of being unable to control yourself as well as your destiny. While the next few films were more about how these characters evolved and still remained young at heart, this film shows how downtrodden, tired, and misty eyed they are for the past.

There are some great sight gags, a couple of off-color jokes that make you cringe, and some Stifler antics reminiscent of the spirit of the original. The characters' personalities somewhat shine through: Jim is still awkward, Michelle tries to be raucous, Chris is still helplessly cheesy, and Finch remains cool and collected.

Still, without the freedom of being a teenager, and getting away with tricks and pranks, their behavior just looks sad and desperate, like the rest of this film.