2012
15
Written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg
Starring Jason Biggs as Jim Levenstein
Alyson Hannigan as Michelle
Chris Klein as Oz
Thomas Ian Nicholas as Kevin
Tara Reid as Vicky
Seann William Scott as Steve Stifler
Ah, the late 90's. Wasn't it all so good then? So much better, yeah? Everyone liked better music, there were better films, all the young boys with their erections and frustrations were looking for the 'Lara Croft is naked' cheat. Such wonderful times.
Such golden age thinking is required to view this film, really. Ignore the fact that the late-90's, early-00's engendered the 'mediocrity is the new great' attitude. After all, it's from that time period we were left with the horrible hangovers like Ricky Gervais and Robbie Williams, and it's also from that time period the American Pie series flourished, a film series whose most memorable joke is a teenage boy engaging in intercourse with a pie.
Of course, this is not the first time someone thought it wise to go back to a dried up well. Despite coming to a natural conclusion with an underwhelming third film, we were still burdened with Scream 4 last year. That's probably the closest comparison I can make to another needless sequel, both in terms of quality and plot.
As I stated above, if you did not watch the previous films, or don't hanker for that time, this is not the film for you. It's the cinematic equivalent of a big tub of Hagen-Daaz when you've just been dumped. Instead of getting on with life, and looking for new options, instead this film wants you to wallow in comfort and nostalgia, and feels like it can get by on this alone. It can't.
The story concerns all the main characters getting together for a high school reunion, as we see where they all are with their lives. Jim and Michelle's marriage has become sexless now that they have a child, Oz is a sports commentator, and a celebrity phony, it would seem, Kevin is a house husband, Finch is full of tales about his world travels, and Stifler is a temp working in a firm of some sort. They are not in the places they imagined they would be, and this comes to light after they all sit and read their yearbook together in a bar. What a dilemma.
So far, so dull. And predictable. You know in the first five minutes what the outcome of the film will be, seeing as it rehashes the plot points of it's predecessors to a tee. There is not a single deviation from the formula anywhere in the film.
That's not what really gets me though. What really baffles me is what a lifeless affair it all is. Not one laugh, in the whole running time. And 2 hours in a comedy film with no laughs is a very long time. Nothing feels fresh in the slightest, the jokes rely on pop culture references, both dated and current... it's just really bland.
So bland, in fact, that I cannot be bothered writing any more about it. Overall, it's inoffensive rubbish, but still rubbish. If you don't like engaging stories or good jokes in your comedy films, and instead like tired gross-out humour and over-reliance on familiarity with the characters, go for it. Otherwise, it's a poorly paced waste of time, and a relic that should have stayed where it was.
2/5
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