American Pie 2 Review
by Karina Montgomery (cinerina AT flash DOT net)September 1st, 2001
American Pie 2
Matinee
The 1980's are alive and well. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is true. Back are the days of amusing and mild, sophomoric sex jokes, but with a slightly expanded PG-13 vocabulary ("in the ass" used to be taboo, as I recall). The gang from the first movie is back, and I think the filmmakers tied together the old chums in a surprisingly thorough and realistic way. It's only a year later, so of course some of them are still friends, and others have new dynamics, all interesting and all with a little more depth than one might expect for a movie of this type. They all get something to do besides serve the plot (even the least developed character, Nadja from Sweden, gets a little more to do), and they really have fantastic ensemble. That said, this film is a pleasant bit of competent fluff that will make you laugh some and make you grin a lot.
My companion queried sagely, "Was there anything in that movie for chicks?" In the 1980's, we gals endured topless bimbo after topless bimbo, all oppressively hard-bodied, bouncing around, while the guys were either Lambda nerds or buttoned up preps or funky freaks. You rarely saw a guy with his shirt off, unless maybe he was the handsome but dastardly bad guy from the rival frat/camp/clique/whatever. In this movie, the boys are, on average, cuter by the pound than 80's comedy guys, so I guess there is a little bit for the man fans. The chicks get some power in this movie, and some comedy, and even as they themselves are being exploited (all in good fun) they are doing it right back (I am referring specifically to my favorite scene with the house painters and their customers). So I guess that is the appeal. And I saw bare boy bottom!
Did I like it? Sure I did! Is it the greatest thing since apple pie? Certainly not, but it lives up to its predecessor without ruining the flava, I mean, gestalt, of the original - or the films that inspired the original. More power to them to make a reasonable story involving such a large cast of characters, without the 90210 trap of forcing every one to remain totally like best friends forever, y'know!
I can't help but think Jason Biggs is going to be huge, he's just got that lovely smile and that fantastic, almost-impossible to fake sense of self-deprecation and humor. I would actually go see a movie just about him and his dad and his late-blooming struggles through teen life - the prequel to American Pie, if you will. I always love Finch. Chris Klein and Mena Suvari mostly serve as a cozy, monogamous comparative state to their horny friends, and different characters get focus at different times. And welcome back, Stifler's Mom! She's been high profile lately, in Legally Blonde and Best in Show, but she will always be Stifler's Mom to me. I did enjoy this film, just as I did the first one. It's fun - relax and enjoy it.
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These reviews (c) 2001 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but just credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks.
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