Stiffler's Mom! Stiffler's Mom! That's all I heard late last Summer when American Pie 2 hit the theaters. Exploding much like the first film, the Box Office take proved audiences were ready for another slice of pie.
The movie reunites the original cast, from Jim's hilarious Dad to yes Stiffler's Mom. I must admit that the writers did a nice job expanding on this cast despite the original's timely ending. The last month's of High School are for most people a magical time filled with emotions that is hard to capture in any other timeframe.
Instead of trying to recapture that essence, director J.B. Rogers and writers Adam Herz and David Steinberg aim to recapture the fun and outlandish aspects of the first film, while throwing in a sweet romance for good measure. It's been a year since the gang last partied with everyone taking various routes in College. Now it's the first summer after college with most everyone returning home with little to do. The males especially are refocused on sex and their lack of exploits in college. So they decide to head down to the lake for the summer in the perfect spot that Finch has found. The only problem is disposable cash, which means that Stiffler's access is needed.
One of the biggest changes to this sequel is that there is less of a balance in the story between male and female. This outing is ¾'s Jim and friends and ¼ Nadia and company. Jessica, especially, is underused in the film. The girls still own the guys in the end but the focus for most of the film revolves around childish sexual antics. It's hard to outdo the pie scene in the first, but Herz really tries with a scene that involves Jim, an adult film, super glue and some lotion motion. Hardly original, but Jason Biggs makes what is predictable still fun to watch. The male viewers of this film will also delight in a tastefully done lesbian scene that rivals that of Wild Things.
Ultimately the gags and goofs amount to a lack of true genius that the first film offered. The subplot that revolves around sex is better with true love is underused, with the exception of Jim and Michelle. Sequels often fall prey to a lack of magic that the first featured. I can't fault Herz here, though, because some loose ends are nicely wrapped up in the end. American Pie 2 is neither as funny, shocking nor genuine as the first film but it's still worthy of a weekend rental.
The Disc:
Much like the original, the content of the Disc will vary slightly depending on which version you get. Both unrated and rated versions are now in stores, with both of those coming in either widescreen or full frame. The rest of the goodies involved are standard, with Universal continuing to be consistent in their extra offerings for die-hard DVD fans.
One of the featurettes is the Original Casting tapes from American Pie. Seeing Alyson Hannigan perform her famous "One Time" line in the raw is especially hilarious. It is not often you get to see actors trying out for parts but Universal scores here for this addition. The making of American Pie 2 is also well done with plenty of insight into what went on in the minds of those in charge of producing the sequel. As I said earlier the setting of the first makes it hard to even do a sequel but the team worked hard to come through with an admirable setting.
The rest of the features are well done, with music videos, outtakes, deleted scenes, a top ten sequences as voted on the internet and of course commentary with director, writer and cast members. Hearing Natasha Lyonne (Jessica) comment on the movie when she's barely in it is sort of weird but always interesting. Despite her limited time she does contribute the important "rule of three" line that is a big part of the movie.
The audio is well done featuring both Dolby Digital and DTS sound. These types of movies never really take advantage of the discrete channels, well, because they are mostly comedy driven by voices. Still, the sound does come through nice and clear. If you have the right equipment then there is no other way to go. Also of note, once again we feel that the DTS sound is superior to Dolby Digital 5.1. This is one of the movies where it shows most since the sounds are so minute and limited.
bottom line:
American Pie 2 is the perfect type of movie to kick back with once just to get a feeling of completion for the gang we've come to love. Unfortunately it's not appealing enough to want to watch several times, as the first movie was, knocking its score down to a three star rating. Universal will undoubtedly have success here but let's hope the pie is done for with Herz banging out something new with a different cast.
