American Pie - Das Klassentreffen

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.

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 $.

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

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.

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.