It seems only fitting for me to do a review of American Pie 2 as aterall, my last opinion was on it’s prequel the great American Pie (nooo, you don’t say!!). I must admit, I had mixed reactions when I found out it was due to be released in the cinema back in the summer of last year. Having loved the first one, I didn’t want anything to ruin it for me, especially a lame second attempt. Nothing is worse than a sequel that just doesn’t cut it for ruining the first one for you.
This is what I thought anyway, this is not what I got. American Pie 2 doesn’t make the first one better or worse, it just compliments it nicely. I found the sequel just as good as the first one, if not better in places.
American Pie 2 was this time made with a bigger budget, but to be honest, doesn’t have that much to show for it apart from more exotic locations and more people taking a talking role. It was directed by James Rogers, who assisted on directing/producing the first one. Paul and Chris Weitz didn’t have anything to do with this film, which was rather strange, but there we go, I don’t know what happened, whether they were busy making ‘About a Boy’ or just didn’t want to have anything to do with the second, your guess is as good as mine! Both sets of directors have had successful films though, James Rogers being behind Theres Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin. He also had an acting part in the film apparently, but I can’t
figure out where, probably just one of the stand ins.
They had a budget of $30m to bring us a film that would live up to the first one. They did that easily. It bought them $145m in the US box office and £18.1m over here. Ok, nothing next to the likes of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, but then more than quadrupling their budget and more!
The beauty of this film is that it doesn’t try to recreate the first. Ok, it’s useful if you have watched the first, you’ll get the gags better, they are obviously tagged with each other and all the same characters are there which is an extremely good thing, but were not in high school anymore, were at college, and things have changed! Everyone has changed and so have their circumstances. It’s summer and it’s time to meet up, this time, in a swish beach hut.
I’m not going to go into too much of the plot here, it’s more fun than a plot, thought there is one running, but again, this film doe’s not exercise your mind, though it might your laughing skills!
Jim is now having sex with real females, he’s moved up in the world! That is until his dad walks in on his last day at college to pick him up and finds Jim and his girl at it in bed….nice start to the film I thought! Of course, there are loads more embarrassing situations between father and son to come, this is just the start! Jim though is feeling a little low, he’s looking to fine tune his sexual skills, who better to do that than his prom date Michelle, the ‘one time at band camp’ girl. It just so happens that the band camp isn’t all that far away from the beach hut, so we get to see action with Michelle getting randy and Jim playing the trumpet in front of quite a large audience swinging around in a tiny pair of blue shorts!
Oz is finding it difficult being in the beach hut while Heather is across the Atlantic in France. Of course, he is still the sensitive guy, but as they both have grown a little older, they decide to try phone sex, trust Stifler to get in the way! Kevin and Vicky have a tricky situation of meeting up again after a year of being separated, Kevin trying all the time to get it on with her and Vicky having none of it, claiming that she has moved on, but all the time, they are both saying they have had girlfriends/boyfriends, but have they really, or are they just trying to make each other jealous!?
One of the finest performances comes from Finch in American Pie 2. Nobody could take this guys place! After his affair with Stiflers mum, Finch is practising the art of the Japanese art Tantra so that he can have an orgasm over days…..or so he claims, everyone else in the group just thinks it’s disgusting, especially Stifler, who hates Finch with a passion! When Finch finds out that Stiflers mum might be coming to the beach house, he gets all excited and the look on his face is hilarious, it has just got to be seen! Fine performance from Eddie Kaye Thomas here.
And well, that leaves Stifler. Stifler is up to his usual tricks, getting horny….or should I say hornier, being the loudmouth, making me laugh. This time he has got his brother to back him up though!
The comedic moments are extremely funny in this film, more funny for me than they were in American Pie. Take for instance the lesbians scene. Just look at Jim’s face when he is asked to do the deed to stifler, absolute classic! I find myself rewinding it back again just because it makes me laugh so much. The other classic scene, which involves glue, a porn video and masturbation is also hilarious, and of course, included Jims dad! Again, I won’t go into it too much incase you haven’t seen it.
This for me was as good as, if not better than the original. A lot of people have said that this one was just cheese, but to me it was absolutely hilarious. Actually, yes, better than the original for pure comedic moments that make me burst out with laughter each and every time I see them. It doesn’t ruin the first film, it doesn’t use the same gags and it does a damn good job at giving us a film that’s watch able over and over again.
Keep an eye out for American Wedding, American Pie 3 in other words, coming to us in 2003, which is already causing a lot of controversy on the film websites message boards! Sorry if this opinion looks as if it’s been patched together, it hasn’t, I just don’t know quite how to describe the American Pie series!
Highly Recommended.
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
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Gareth Carrivick - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Kathryn Drysdale, Sheridan Smith, Natalie Casey, Will Mellor, Ralf Little
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...
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,...
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 6 to 11 days...
![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]")
Oct 25th, 2002
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