User reviews

This is a true sequel: it expands on a previous story and makes it better. American Pie was never a great film and the many reincarnations of the same story did not do it good, but American Reunion almost fixes everything, giving it a true human dimension. In my opinion, it is this film that makes American Pie a classic. I just hope they don't turn it into another franchise. Let it rest, people! You got it right, don't mess with it.

Other than that, the same crazy antics, part felony, part madness and the same awkward situations, but with a more adult touch. Everybody is married, with children, but at heart, they are still kids. That is what this film is all about.

I was 16 when the original American Pie came out. It was a film that spoke to me greatly. It was my generation's Ridgemont High, you might say. The sequels too, were enjoyable. But to say that the series didn't wear itself thin might be an understatement. And don't even get me started on the direct to DVD creations. However, American Reunion surprised me with a couple entertaining trailers, and nostalgia grabbed me by the balls. Having had the opportunity to see an early screening, I am happy to say that this is the series I remembered it being.

There's nothing too outside the norm for an American Pie series film. We find the original cast living life over ten years after the original film. Jim and Michelle are having a few marital issues and raising a kid. Stiffler is working a job as a temp, dealing with an a-hole boss. Finch has become a mystery of sorts. Oz is a big shot sportscaster with a supermodel girlfriend. And Kevin is a stay at home husband, slash architect. The group returns for their high school reunion and reconnect with each other and their fellow classmates. But this is a film that is as much about the audience seeing it as it is about our favorite foursome. As stated, the film isn't remarkable in the plot sense. Unlike the previous films, there isn't a big endgame to cling to. There's no goal of losing virginity like the first film, finding true love like the second film, or having a successful wedding like the third film. Instead, these characters just deal with being back in their hometown and their own individual issues.

If anything, the film is highly nostalgic. It's filled with characters and situations reminiscent of the previous films. It still manages to surprise with many of it's shenanigans, from the boys having to get out of some awkward tight spots, to Jim once again finding himself in extremely embarrassing situations. Heck we even get a few truly surprising moments that are also very laugh out loud. But for the audience that grew up on these films, it will be like a trip down memory lane. It's fun seeing all your favorite characters return, from the underused ones to all of the main cast. Even seeing characters like Oz or Vicky, whose real life counterparts haven't had much of a career since the American Pie film, are pleasant to see again. And they all do a great job of reprising these characters. Best of all, the film is hilarious, with plenty of laugh out loud moments.

My biggest qualm with the film is it's lack of a strong central plot. Nostalgia only goes so far and there's really nothing to cling to here in terms of something these characters are working for. By comparison, there was the ever present goal of the guys losing their virginity. Here, their personal issues seem meager. Yes, Jim and Michelle are having issues, but you never really feel like it won't work out. Knowing these characters, you already know they love each other. The same goes for most of the others, whom you always feel will come out on top. This despite a few surprises. And with the whole movie revolving around the up coming reunion, an event which doesn't seem to have much affect on the direction these characters take, there's never a real sense of character growth. Instead, you're just hanging out with the boys again, watching them get into trouble.

But this is okay. It's okay because the movie is funny. Much of what happens resembles the kind of humorous situations from the other films. There are some truly laugh out loud moments and the surprises will have you howling. Despite my nostalgic interest in the film, I found some genuinely fun and surprising moments. For fans, this should be a no brainer. The film is definitely worth the watch.

The in-between movies didn't really do anything for any American Pie fan (talking about everything that was tagged with the American Pie title after the American Wedding aka Part 3), but this one will satisfy the fans of the original. Even though (or because) they have grown up, many will remember them. While I think it works for newer viewers (without previous knowledge of the original trilogy), I think the full viewing potential/pleasure will only emerge if you have seen the others too.

While I was a bit skeptical about the fact that Stifler (played exceptionally again by Sean William Scott), went "back" attitude wise in this one, it made more than sense and doesn't take anything away from his arc in Part 3. I would even say, his journey is fulfilled now for sure! The others have their problems too (even if some seem small in comparison to others) and they play it as straight as the first time. Many familiar faces will show up, even the ones who didn't have an actual character name in part 1. A nice touch.

The movie may be (largely) predictable, but apart from some major surprise towards the end, it is done with love by everyone involved and you can feel that through the screen. A really fitting end (?) to a series, that defined a generation of movie-goers

American Reunion (2012)

*** (out of 4)

The fourth film in the series brings back all the major players from the first film for their 13th anniversary. Jim, Oz, Kevin, Finch and Stifler decide to have some fun during the reunion even if each one of them are facing dramas of being adults. It's really a shame that most people will probably stay away from this due to two weak sequels and a whole slew of direct- to-DVD cash ins because American REUNION is certainly the best film since the first and it's also one of the better "reunion" movies that has been made over the past few decades. I think the film made a good decision in not going for 100% gross-out humor like the two sequels and instead it tries to put in some characters just like the first movie. Needless to say but the entire cast fit back into their roles so perfectly that you don't have to worry about any weak performances. All of them do an extremely good job and especially Chris Klein who is back after missing the previous entry. Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Tara Reid, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Seann William Scott are all perfect as well as are a few of the new people. I think the movie gets off to a somewhat shaky start but once everything dealing with the reunion kicks in we get some extremely good moments. Not all of the laughs are are loud as in the first movie but I think they're more natural and just around more fun. The entire film had a smile on my face and I thought there were some tender moments as well that worked out nicely. There's also some drama thrown in dealing with some of the characters disappointments in where they are in their lives but this here works very well. American REUNION still has plenty of raunchy sex and dirty jokes, which one has come to expect but like the first film this here also has a great and great character development. The movie is an extremely good one so hopefully people will give it a shot even if they were disappointed in the previous two sequels.

My school was handing out tickets for a special screening for American Reunion tonight, I just got back from the screening. I was never a die hard fan of the American Pie series, but I've always found them to be quite enjoyable. I still feel the same way when I was watching this film. I'll be honest, I thought this one wasn't going to be any good and I thought it would be toned down, I'm glad to be wrong this time around. I'm not going to go much into the plot except that it's simply a reunion as all the characters are here to return, which it what you'd expect coming into this. It's just as sweet and crude as the previous three. Just like the other films, Seann William Scott is still the best part of the film. The rest of the cast did just as good as they did with the previous films. If you're a fan of the previous films, you'll still find something to enjoy. If you never were a fan, this isn't going to change your mind.

Caught a preview screening of this movie tonight in NYC. I am 26 years old now, so I was in 8th grade when the original came out.

Thought the first two were awesome but thought the third noticeably drifted away from what made the first two special.(A little too much Stifler).

For American Pie 4, when I saw the preview I was excited to see them all back together, but I didn't know what to expect. I know Hollywood loves destroying sequels and I didn't know how they were going to create a story line out of characters that really haven't been together in forever.

Fear not. I though this movie was almost as good as the original. Two hours of non-stop cracking-up, but none of it was forced. They brought back all the characters, but in a way that didn't seem thrown together or in-genuine. It was about 2 hours and 15 minutes long, but not once did I think this was dragging. They did a nice job explaining where everyone has been and it didn't really seem awkward.

The best part of it is, the story is about all 5 of the original guys, and their relationship with women and sex at their current juncture (31 years old). Each have their own issues (too married, have kids, hate their jobs, hate their lifestyle, etc.) and the movie is kind of about them all resolving their that over the course of a reunion weekend. It's the American Pie which is most similar too the first one. All the old couples from high-school (Oz/Heather, Kevin/Vicky, Jim/Michelle) re-hash their past feelings.

Another great thing about the film is that Stifler's character is written back in the style of American Pie 1 and 2, which I loved. His part is not over bearing like the Wedding. Kevin, Finch (and Oz) play much bigger roles than they did they did in the third.

There a couple new characters but none of them are annoying or take up too much of the story, all those parts are well cast. Jim's Dad and Stifler's Mom are hilarious on screen together. Jim's Dad is the funniest he has ever been- but again- not in an over the top way. All in all, it's a well-written, well-rounded film with some good plot twists. Tons of references too the old films. Literally, all of the obscure characters from the first two make an appearance at some point.

BOTTOM LINE: 9/10. If you are a fan of the American Pie films (especially 1 & 2) your going to LOVE this movie. Worth the $.

It was 1999 that American Pie launched what would be a series of teenage sex comedies, given a relatively cost effective formula loaded with nudity and toilet humour, that exploded at the box office and made everyone sit up to take note which of its cast members would go on to make it big. The film spawned two more films that would culminate in a wedding, before going direct to video in the many spin offs lie Band Camp, Naked Mile, Beta House and Book of Love that had very little links to the main characters. It's almost a decade already, and it's perhaps time to put those spin off films to rest, and bring back the original cast and their characters to the big screen in a logical reunion. And why not, given that the individual cast members never really made it to the big league, that coming together in a show of unity may rekindle memories of an audience who grew up with them from 1999's original, and in some ways provide one last shot in the arm for their individual careers.

And so it's a warm hello to old friends with whom we have last left off without much of a closure for all the characters, and like a real reunion, we discover just what our friends have been up to during the course of their absence in our lives. Some are successful, others not, and some are depending on what definition you're using. There's Jason Biggs as Jim Levenstein who's still married to Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) with a kid in tow and having trouble with their non-existent sex lives, Oz (Chris Klein) being a successful television sports anchor and celebrity with a model girlfriend (Katrina Bowden), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) who's also happily married but dreading a very routine lifestyle filled with TV and more TV, who would have thought Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) being very much of an all round adventurer, and Stifler (Seann William Scott) the jock who, well, according to unwritten rules, finds himself in between jobs, getting really nowhere in his career, and still bearing a grudge towards Finch for nailing Stifler's Mom (Jennifer Coolidge).

Some things never change too, as we usually find out during meet ups with old friends, old flames and once rivals, that when we rekindle the past, we'll at times tangent into the what ifs. And there are plenty of such situations that make up the narrative of Reunion, with Jim having to fend off the advances of his neighbour Kara (Ali Cobrin), whom he babysat a long time back and is now a nubile 18 year old eager to lose her virginity to Jim, and both Oz and Kevin discovering old feelings with their exes Heather (Mena Suvari) and Vicky (Tara Reid). Stifler faces challenges at work especially that threatens to cancel his attendance at the school reunion ball, while Finch seems to get onto a real relationship with Selena (Dania Ramirez).

There's also the return of the evergreen favourite, Jim's dad (Eugene Levy), now a widower but still finding time to talk about sexuality very openly to an always embarrassed Jim, and that of a slew of supporting characters from the earlier films that I will not name to contain the surprise. But it's a full reunion as the filmmakers pulled out all the stops in order to make sure of a proper representation rather than a half-hearted event, in order not to short change the audience. And surprisingly though that directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg seemed to have restrained themselves a lot from their Harold and Kumar days, and like touching a holy grail of teenage sex comedies, treated the material and characters here with a lot of respect rather than going for the jugular because getting the team back together again with a valid excuse will seem like a long way ahead.

But when the jokes came, they came fast and furious since we have Stifler in the party and ensuring that his posse of friends get the best deal out of their short weekend stay in town, and this balances out with more dramatic moments which can be seen coming from a mile away. Stifler's party forms the centerpiece where the you-know-what hits the fan, and for all the amount of nudity in the earlier movies, American Reunion would win for being the tamest of the lot, toning blatant nudity down by a lot of notches, and keeping things in relative PG mode as the narrative chugged along drama rather than comedy, for the most parts of the second half anyway.

The first American Pie film garnered an R21 rating here, and this one, although having full front male genitalia on display, male on male kissing, the requisite foul language and subject matter that will earn it an R21 easily, its M18 rating perhaps also reflected a relatively loosening of ratings here in Singapore, although this remains to be seen whether one off, or gets sustained and gradually loosened up even more as time goes by. Still, American Reunion, whatever the rating, is definitely for franchise fans (whether considering the direct to video titles or not), and I really enjoyed how it went full circle in the group's reunion in their final scene together. If you're a fan, then what are you waiting for?

I was lucky enough to catch an advance screening last night at the Mall of America in Minnesota. This movie will not disappoint anyone who is a fan of the original movies or the characters. It has all of the gross-out humor, sexual tension, and most importantly the heart. It doesn't break in any new ground, but gives great closure to all of the characters. The laughs also are spread out well from start until during the credits. In face, I think the first 3 minutes was the funniest I've ever seen in a movie. Even my wife who is just a casual fan laughed more at this movie than any other comedy I've taken her to. Stifler is back!!

Doesn't quite reach the highs of the originals but extremely nostalgic and just about enough laughs to make it worth the watch.

Going to keep this short, because it's my first review, and I don't wamt to bore people.

Saw an early screening today in Amsterdam, and I was really excited because the trailer promised a lot. And you know what? It was amazing!

Simply because they made it as good as the original and the second movie. (I liked the first two but I personally think that the third one drifted away from the original theme a bit)

I also liked how they made Stifler return to his original state. Crazy as always, doing things the way he wants to do. The other thing that I found good was that they briefly showed what everyone does after high school and at what position they are at the moment.

All in all, great film (what else could you expect from these guys), I'd say go see it, definitely worth your time!

The fourth installment in the American Pie theatrical series, 'American Reunion' is indeed A Funny Reunion! High on laughs & gags, this 2012 Box-Office Blockbuster is surely worth watching!

'American Reunion' Synopsis: Jim, Michelle, Stifler, and their friends reunite in East Great Falls, Michigan for their high school reunion.

'American Reunion' begins & ends, smoothly. Its got the attitude, the rudeness & the vulgarity, the American Pie movies are known for. Even the clever one-liners are damn good. Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg's Screenplay is adult-rated & hard-core. Their Direction, on the other-hand, is decent.

Performance-Wise: Seann William Scott is awesome. Once again, he steals the show! Jason Biggs is very much in the mood, while Chris Klein, Eddie Kaye Thomas & Thomas Ian Nicholas are wild. Alyson Hannigan, Tara Reid & Mena Suvari are efficient. Eugene Levy is fantastic.

On the whole, 'American Reunion' is certainly a delight.

American Reunion completes the transition into adulthood for these characters in a typically sincere fashion. It feels ahead of its time by being a legacy sequel long before it became one of Hollywood's main vices and sacrifices none of the laughs whilst still being able to let everyone accept that it's time to move on from trying to recreate the highs of high school.

It's really nice to have the main five back together and whilst Chris Klein is probably the least funny, his reintroduction brings so much heart and that's always been this franchise's greatest strength. Seann William Scott essentially repeats his arc from the last one to even greater success and Eugene Levy getting more screen time than ever is an adorable gift.

Directors Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg continue what Jesse Dylan started by giving this one quite a bit of energy with their pretty dynamic direction. There's some well placed callbacks here and some of these jokes leave a huge lasting impression. As is always the case, the soundtrack here is a real highlight as it bookends the film rather than being a constant presence.

Although I hate the lowbrow comedy genre ever since its inception in the late 1990s with the likes of THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, for some reason I consider myself a fan of the American PIE franchise. This is the fourth in the series which takes the expected route of catching up with the characters as they deal with adulthood.

The story is surprisingly sweet and sentimental if you take out all of the puerile humour. Crucially, for fans of the series, the producers have managed to pretty much reunite the entire cast, including Chris Klein, who was missing from the last instalment as I recall. So watching these characters mingling again after all these years is a great deal of fun, and the camaraderie and humour that flows between them is pretty decent.

Yes, there are some obnoxious jokes here, and situations that scream facile; typically those involving Stifler. Nonetheless, Seann William Scott is undeniably charming in this part, and I notice that his character has deliberately softened a little, less jarring, more humane this time. The same goes with the others and I think that's why I like this series so much: despite the gross-outs, these films are all about warmth and friendship. American REUNION is a lot of fun.

There is really not much to say here except that the return of Stifler and his posse....and just about every single memorable character from the first three films...are welcomed back with open arms in "American Reunion." After three absolutely sensational, immature-but-awesome comedies about sex, masturbation and fart jokes (somewhat ignoring the somewhat mediocre offshoots "Band Camp," "The Naked Mile," "Beta House" and "The Look of Love"), I really did not know if, over a decade later, with all the actors and characters older, they could recapture the crude magic that made the first three instalments such comedy classic.

Guess what? They did.

It is now thirteen years later and the crew converge upon their high school, all grown up now, for their, you guessed it, high school reunion. And yes, the film relies heavily on nostalgia and clichés about friends, sex and lost love, but the writing here is so great, it really doesn't matter. The film continues the series' reputation of being politically incorrect and walking the line of taste while still managing to present it all in a way that makes the audience laugh out loud despite themselves. All the main characters returned, played by all the original actors including Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Sean William Scott, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas and Eddie Kaye Thomas. Jennifer Coolidge is still as much a MILF as Stifler's mom while Eugene Levy, the only one to appear in ever single incarnation of these films, continues his signature role of Jim's dad. Even Tara Reid and Mena Suvari are back in the mix.

Loads of ridiculous situations, a disgusting hijink and fantastically hilarious comedy ensues as the gang gets back together, having aged stupendously (Klein's body has gotten even more porn-worthy) and making this long-awaited return well worth the time and effort. And if this film makes the box office it deserves, we may just get invited back to the party one more time. And I'll be there with bells on.

Disregarding the countless straight-to-DVD duds that tenuously hailed themselves as "sequels", Reunion is the fourth instalment into the ultra-crude and hugely popular American Pie franchise. The cast are all 13 years older, but that adolescent giddiness they possessed back in 1999 when making the original (and by far the best) Pie thankfully hasn't been lost. It's a shame then that the material they're working with is half-baked. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg's screenplay is lacklustre and derivative, relying on rehashed gags and goodwill toward the familiar characters to tickle the funny bone, rather than anything fresh or witty. Still, it's a major bonus to have basically everyone from the first movie return, including MILF guy #2 and the Sherminator, and veteran comedians Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge are fantastic as Jim's Dad and Stifler's Mum (their end credits gag is the funniest of the film), so I couldn't help but watch this with a smile on my face.

I entered the theater in a depressed mood after having some blood work done for a bothersome medical condition and left in an even worse mood. My sick body is constantly on my mind, and the spectacle of Life usually raises my spirits. Alas, there is very little life on the screen in "American Reunion". Although the movie is all above love and sex, there is nothing even slightly erotic here. Underneath the wiggling behinds and rounds of tequila shots...beats a puritan heart. On one hand, we have the dreadfully boring and pussified Jim with his dreadful and pussified wife. Their sex life is dead because they are wasting their lives. Next we have the dreadfully boring Oz. His situation is not so different. Stifler appears to offer a contrast, but it's a mirage. His fantasies are all shallow and boring and don't go any farther than rutting...which has nothing to do with true Eros as such. He's no less sterile than the others. The women are all prudes. Their pinched, Botoxed, suntanned faces express nothing but fear and conventionality. The bodies are beautiful, but they are the products of obsessive narcissistic upkeep that serves principally to flee the central dimension of sex, namely a real encounter with a real Other...like a guy who washes his car all the time but is afraid to drive it or park it too near other cars. The neighbor character has great breasts but there is nothing sexual about her...it's just a Girls Gone Wild masquerade that hides a boring and timid soul. They should have made her 15, not 18. The Tara Reid character with her BS tears because that guy thought she would stoop to sleeping with him, a married man, after a night of drinking...what a prude...what hypocrisy. Are there really people out there like this? Thank God I got the hell out of that depressing world years ago. The Mena Suvari character is a similar prude in the same mold. They're all prudes, my God. The only story with the slightest bit of real electricity is the story between Finch and the bartender babe. Why? Because there is an element of fantasy there...of creation, of construction...whereas all of the other couplings are just about the reproduction of the eternal same...i.e. ideology. This film is propaganda for an empty, puritan sexuality that presents itself as transgressive. It makes me sad that young people in other, less sexually hypocritical countries might swallow the bait.

The colors...the houses...the bars...the parties...the clothes...there is nothing concrete here, nothing Historical in the Hegelian sense, no Geist, no spirit, no outside to speak of, no engagement with the background...just a bland nowhere populated by bland nobodies...total claustrophobia. Rather than venturing out into the world and interacting with real Others, the characters here all turn fearfully inwards, towards the protective security of sterile relationships conducted under the loving but stern gaze of habit and puritan sexual ideology. The message behind this movie is simple: sex is dirty, sex is bad, sex is scary, marry that boring girl or guy next door and wait to die.

Being an American Pie fan since the beginning, I was excited about American Reunion. The boys are back for another crazy, sexual, and over- the-top adventure.

Since the last film in 2003, I thought they wouldn't be able to perform as well together. But from start to finish, they played their roles as if they never left.

This movie will definitely keep you laughing, especially if you are a long time fan. Not to mention Jim's dad finally got the screen time he deserved.

Now, I don't think it was as good as it could have been. The plot, as mentioned in other reviews, was plain. But all in all, It was an amazing sequel to the series. Better than the first? I don't think so. But as good as the first? YES!

I do recommend watching the last three American Pie movies before going to see this. You will understand the movie much clearer, and not to mention the little surprise(s) will have you rolling on the floor laughing.

Cons: It wasn't dirty enough. The jokes were hysterical, but I wanted more! I wanted more F bombs, sex jokes, and pie humping! But I guess that is what the previous Pie films were for ;)

If you are a fan, you will enjoy this film. You will NOT be disappointed.

10/10 stars

Seeing the crew back together was fun. The core characters are still likable, and the actors for the most part deliver. Stifler, like he's done throughout this franchise, nails some genuinely funny moments. The lack of an engaging story was the undoing here. The writers had so much to work with but, unlike the first film, create only a thud. The story lines concerning Oz-Heather and Kevin-Vicky are so much on the back-burner that they become nonexistent. More attention should have been devoted to them. Less on the tiresome plot of Jim and Michelle and their martial problems.

Still can't understand why these characters were constantly commingling with high school students. Its was unnecessary and awkward. They're adults now, just like their fanbase, and no one will cry if they party with... ummm... adults.