American Reunion (Bluray) Review

The whole gang is back for American Reunion, the latest in the “American Pie” series of movies. This time around the gang is back for their 13th year reunion (yes, that’s not a typo) featuring all of the original cast. This movie deals with many themes that people face when going back to their High School reunion – a shift in life with your friends now that you’re an adult, keeping a marriage with kids fresh and moving on from glory years gone past. While American Reunion was a nice nostalgic look at the cast of the original American Pie, it failed to bring the laughs on a consistent basis and was littered with awkward moments (not in a good way) and weak comedic timing.

Entertainment Value

As a big fan of the original film and as someone that has seen all the major releases (having skipped the “N” number of straight-to-video films) I had some hope that this movie would bring the gang back together for some big laughs. Regretfully it was at the 15-minute mark when I openly wondered out loud if I had laughed yet (I hadn’t) and where the film was taking me. Most of the first half hour was simply spent catching up with the five main members of the AP gang – Jim, Stifler, Oz, Kevin and Finch. The plot weaves them together for their 10-year reunion … 13 years after the class of 1999 graduated. While Jim and Michelle struggle to rekindle their fire together, Kevin digs up old feelings for his high school love and Oz realizes he never should have let his get away. Meanwhile, Stifler tries to keep the party going but realizes everyone’s grown up and moved on without him. Finch struggles with his identity and his ability to find love.

Regretfully, the funny moments were few and far between. American Reunion fails to evolve into the kind of comedy it should have as 30-somethings really don’t have much business trying to pull off sophomoric high school pranks and awkward sexual situations. While Stifler (Seann William Scott) and “Jim’s Dad” (played brilliantly by Eugene Levy) carry 99% of the comedic weight in the movie, the rest of the cast failed to recapture the magic of the original. The plot wasn’t anything but predictable and many of the “big moments” absolutely failed to deliver.

Audio & Video Quality

On Bluray the film looks amazing and Universal did a great job capturing 1080p video quality into this movie. Certainly, this is no big blockbuster special effects movie but at the same time judging it within it’s own genre (comedy) it looked great. The sound, fueled by 7.1 surround sound, was well done as well.

Extras

The extras are what really carry American Reunion on bluray as there are a ton of them to enjoy and most are actually pretty good. The bluray exclusives include extended scenes, alternate takes, a look at Jason Biggs, a nice vingette about the Oz dancing scene and backstory, plus a yearbook. Other extras (also included on the DVD version) are some deleted scenes, a gag reel, a look at Jim’s Dad and a vingette about relaunching (uhh … there’s going to be more?) the American Pie series. There’s also a commentary track if you want to listen in to the minds that made the film as it plays.

Overall Impression

While hopes certainly weren’t high for American Reunion, the comedic expectation was definitely higher than the reality that the film gave audiences. Certainly Stifler and Jim’s Dad were hilarious and brought back plenty of the magic from past movies, but the other cast really failed to deliver anything worthwhile. The script was frankly lacking when it came to big payoffs and the whole storyline between Jim and Michelle was downright weird (outside of the first scene, not a bad way to start off the movie), especially when it came to the 18-year-old with the amazing rack that crushed on Jim.

Overall, American Reunion is probably best left for uber-fans of the series who shouldn’t get their hopes high for a great comedy. Scenes specific to Stifler and Jim’s Dad were usually funny but the main storyline was weak and there really weren’t any big laughs at any point in the film. The audio and video quality was excellent and the extras definitely delivered some amazing value.

Overall Ratings – American Reunion (Bluray)

Entertainment:	4/10
Audio:	7/10
Video:	8/10
Extras:	8/10
OVERALL SCORE:	68%