Review of American Reunion (2012) by Cole M — 06 Sep 2012

Without the nostalgia factor, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have watched this... or enjoyed it. What's most interesting about doing the high school sex comedy ten years later is that, if your viewer saw the original when s/he was 17 or so, they will watch this installment and immediately be in the same shoes as the characters: moving away from their formerly juvenile selves, while still trying to stay young at heart and free in spirit.

On the downside, the plot points were entirely predictable, but to the film's credit, it was true to its origins and even had a sense of humour about them. The actors involved - many of whom have since been labelled flashes in the pan, as they've had few big roles outside of the franchise - acquitted themselves particularly well, particularly, dare I say, Jason Biggs, though his best scenes were of course with master improviser Eugene Levy, reprising the role of Mr. Levenstein. Levy could make anyone look good. Seann William Scott is as Stifler as he's ever been - perpetually been, since this breakout role a decade ago - and, having never been a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan but having seen her since on How I Met Your Mother, I was impressed with how Alyson Hannigan slipped back into the character of Michelle and all her weird-girl faces.

If you've never seen the other films - and I don't mean the spinoffs - you probably won't enjoy this, and I think in the future the four films could be recut as a kind of soap opera, but it's a loyal and still pretty funny sequel. Better than American Wedding, not so good as the first two, though. It's my generation's Porky's - meaning that, in ten to twenty years, people will be asking me what the heck I'm talking about when I mention it...