If you know me, you’ll know that I am a complete film snob. If you don’t know that, go and learn it by reading all of my other reviews. I refuse to like anything that isn’t black and white, foreign, impossibly hard to follow, made on a minimal budget, or so obscure it isn’t even in print. You really, really don’t want to be my friend if we start talking movies – I will insult your mainstream taste, and call you ‘a film illiterate groundling’
This is why I hate this film. Firstly, it is mainstream to the max. Massive amounts of advertisement, an expensive pop-punk soundtrack, and to top it all of it is a sequel to a movie that was never intended to have a sequel. This movie has only been made because the original was a huge success, and the people at Universal felt like they needed a but more money in the bank.
The
storyline is typically sequel. The original American Pie had the immortal generation summing up ‘Pact’, whilst this movie has all the hallmarks of ‘well, lets forgo any real story, we’ll just make it up as we go along’. Basically, the cast of the original film has came back from college, and they decide to go on holiday to the beach.
Why the beach? Well, seeing as everyone in Teen Orientated Land is good looking enough to model, you might as well have them in bikinis. Makes sense, especially as your core audience is made up of horny teenage boys who have over a year before they can legally get laid. That’s the thing I personally hate most about Teen movies – everything is so impossibly perfect. I mean, if I had parties as good as the ones they have, I would be the most popular guy in school.
The movie also (and this is my biggest gripe), has two scenes where it takes the mick out of the mentally handicapped. I am now, and always will be, opposed to using the mentally ill for laughs. There are some things you just shouldn’t do in movies, and that is one of them. Unfortunately, these days it is becoming acceptable to do this – see Rat Race for proof.
Funnily enough for a big budget movie, there is some quite terrible use of green screening. For pretty much all of the outside scenes you can tell that the characters have been superimposed. How hard could it have been to find a beach somewhere, and film these shots there? It might not have been apparent on the theatrical release, but on DVD you will notice it.
All of this said though…and I have to confess that I laughed so hard I fell of my chair.
Twice.
Like I said, I hate this movie. It makes me feel so mainstream when I watch it and enjoy it. It’s like when you hear the latest Westlife song, and find that you actually like it. So humiliating.
I guarantee that even the biggest film snobs will laugh out loud at least once while watching this. The script is the funniest thing this side of a flying penguin with clogs on, with some lines that are far too quotable for their own good.
“I glued myself to….myself”.
Quite how a man supergluing his hand to his willy is funny, I do not know. But this movie pulls it off so well, you have to give credit to the director. Although there is only one standout classy shot in the entire movie (the ‘Blue Beach’ shot toward the end), this kind of film can go horribly wrong (see: every other Teen Comedy), so much respect to that man.
The DVD extras are plentiful, and for the most part they are worth watching. There are 4 commentaries, and although the Directors commentary and one of the cast commentaries are fairly boring, that still leaves you with two of the things.
The other important feature, deleted scenes, is also present. They all run as one feature (meaning you don’t have to keep going through menu screens to watch them), which is a nice touch, but the quality on them is poor. Not only do we get the Big Black Bars at the top and bottom of the screen, the sound doesn’t even run at the same time as the poor picture. That said, the content of the scenes is pretty good, so it all evens out in the end.
Overall, good stuff.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Production Year: 2004 - Comedy - Director: John Hay - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry, Kate Miles, Dougray Scott
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Carol Cleveland, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones
These are my number one choice in pick me up titles when I need a laugh! - I keep watching this film over & over again, feckin wicked *dude*. Thanks for a great Op! (SC)
ciaomen 15.11.2002 07:00
good opinion, gives a good insight on the movie. I will defeintely rent this one and check it out. Thanks again for the well written opinion!
Sometimes you just don't need to change the recipe. Like its predecessor,American Pie 2is ... more
superficially full of gross-out laddishness, but theres a moral tale lurking beneath all the jokes about masturbation, voyeurism and men's sexual prowess--or thei...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
To the horror of prudes everywhere,American Pie 2is even funnier than its popular ... more
predecessor, pushing the R rating with such unabashed ribaldry that you'll either be appalled or surprised by its defiant celebration of the young-adult male libido. Fema...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
To the horror of prudes everywhere,American Pie 2is even funnier than its popular ... more
predecessor, pushing the R rating with such unabashed ribaldry that you'll either be appalled or surprised by its defiant celebration of the young-adult male libido. Fema...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Here's the pie you couldn't see in cinemas! This special unseen edition of American Pie 2 ... more
is the comedy hit you'll want to watch again and again!The characters you love are back! One year after the prom-night misadventures immortalized in American Pie,...
Advantages: The same brand of humour as the first; all the familiar characters and the same laughs. Like being re-acquainted with an old friend. If you liked the first film there's plenty to enjoy. Disadvantages: The same brand of humour as the first; all the familiar characters and the same laughs. Like being re-acquainted with an old friend who has become slightly stale since you last met them. If you disliked the first film don't bother.
harris 18.10.2001 (18.10.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of American Pie 2 (DVD)
![American Pie 2 [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78527797.jpg "American Pie 2 [DVD] [2001]")
![American Pie 2 [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78493037.jpg "American Pie 2 [DVD] [2001]")
Mar 28th, 2002
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