Now Playing: A ‘Reunion’ Worthy of a Direct-To-Blu Release

I know that plenty of people out there believe that the ‘American Pie’ movies are some of the funniest R-rated comedies around, but I’m not one of them. The first movie was funny enough, but not three – and especially not four – times. Since ‘American Wedding’, the franchise has become a ‘National Lampoon’ of sorts, releasing a bunch of really bad direct-to-video titles filled with unheard-of actors and characters. Sadly, ‘American Reunion’ belongs with those.

Everyone from the original movies is back for ‘American Reunion’. Of course they’d all return. After all, what have any them been doing of note since the last one of these? For some reason, the entire graduating class of 1999 returns home for their 13th high school reunion. Yes, apparently at this school they celebrate their 13th anniversary and everyone drops what they’re doing to come back home for it.

Jim and Michelle now have a boring married life that’s been turned sex-less by their two-year-old son. Both have resorted to their old habits (if you know what I mean) instead of spending quality time together. Kevin is now living a yuppie married life that consists of evenings watching trash Reality TV. Oz is a sports anchor for an ESPN knock-off network and is quickly becoming washed-up, already having appeared on the fictional series ‘Celebrity Dance-Off’. He’s growing tired of playing the “celebrity” role that his job has demanded of him, and has no idea why he’s with his gorgeous and vain model girlfriend. Finch has followed his intellectual dream of traveling the globe and making a difference. And Stifler is stuck in the past. His temp job has bruised his cocky ego, so the outside world is where he can be himself. Yes, he’s still vulgar and constantly drops well-placed F-bombs.

When the gang gets back together, their typical shenanigans ensue – only this time the movie is convoluted with countless coincidental cameos that obviously hope to make you say, “Look! There’s so-and-so!” This happens so many times that it becomes a laughable joke. It makes no sense as to why the writers wouldn’t keep the cameos for the actual reunion instead of these unbelievable instances. There’s absolutely no tact in how they bring these old characters back for their bit moments. Nadia’s is the worst of all.

‘American Reunion’ features plenty of laughs, but the screenplay in which they reside is so overwhelmingly bad that the movie is hardly worth recommending. If you’re just like the characters and want a stroll down memory lane, do yourself a favor and check out the newly released ‘American Pie‘ Blu-rays. Each of those is better than ‘Reunion’.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

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