American Reunion Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

American Reunion Blu-ray Movie Review

"Maybe in high school it was funny..."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown July 10, 2012

Rated, unrated, a double feature for those who dare... it doesn't matter which way you come at American Reunion. It's one sequel too many. Never mind the American Pie series' appeal, never mind its four maligned direct-to-video pseudo-sequels, never mind debating whether a fourth theatrically released film was even necessary. Reunion is a further descent into unruliness and squandered potential; not unruly teens and squandered futures, but unruly screenwriting and squandered character arcs. For three films (well, two in Oz's case), we've followed Jim and his inseparable high school foursome into adulthood. And for what? To watch them return to their East Great Falls stomping grounds and run through the same tired genre motions, each of which is only getting that much more tiresome with every passing cast reunion the American Pie squad slaps together? There's no sense of purpose. No ambition, no passion, no grand plan. Just boys behaving badly. Again.

"Were we just as obnoxious as these kids back in the day?"

No surprises here. Thirteen years after graduation, the Class of 1999 holds... wait... a 13-year reunion? Lured back to East Great Falls by one-half of the dynamic MILF duo (John Cho)? Ah, never mind. All your favorites fly home to Michigan for the -- ahem -- monumental milestone: Jim (Jason Biggs) and his wife Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and his ex-girlfriend Vicky (Tara Reid), Oz (Chris Klein) and the former love of his life Heather (Mena Suvari), man-out-of-time Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), the always irritating Stifler (Seann William Scott) and other alums that didn't make it into any of the sequels, among them Jessica (Natasha Lyonne), the Sherminator (Chris Owen), Justin (Justin Isfeld), and foreign exchange student Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth). Jim's dad (Eugene Levy, in his eighth Pie outing) shows up too (even though Jim's mother has been unceremoniously retired from the series), as does Stifler's mom (Jennifer Coolidge), who earns a romantic subplot of her own. Hail, hail, the gang's all here (chief among them Klein, who was conspicuously MIA from American Wedding).

But don't let all the returning regulars dupe you into thinking Reunion pays true homage to the original American Pie. This is Jim, Kevin, Oz, Finch and Stifler's sequel, and the girls sit the bench. Even Michelle disappears for large chunks of the movie, making it that much harder to root for her until now ultra-likable husband. Unfortunately, the individual storylines are as stale and eerily preserved as a french-fry-of-yesteryear stuck under the seat of your car. Jim, failing to attend to his wife's needs and preoccupied with hanging out with the guys, stumbles upon a secret lakeside birthday party for his underage but soon-to-be 18-year-old neighbor. (I'm sure you can already see where that one's going.) Kevin, happily married to a woman named Ellie (Charlene Amoia), wakes up next to Vicky after a wild night and assumes the worst. Oz, now a famous sportscaster trying to keep up with his supermodel girlfriend (Katrina Bowden), unearths old feelings he thought he'd buried long ago. Finch, as cool a customer as ever, takes a break from his travels abroad to catch up with his classmates and hook-up with a once-ugly duckling band-geek (Dania Ramirez). And Stifler... well, Stifler's still the Stifmeister, albeit more dissatisfied and unsuccessful than he envisioned thirteen years ago.

American Reunion could have been a hilarious send-up of teen comedies old and new, a smart trip down nostalgia lane with cameos aplenty, and a side-splitting commentary on generation gaps, the perils of growing older and reflecting on one's youth. But then Universal would have had to call the fourth franchise film 21 Jump Street, and Sony wouldn't have been too happy about that. Reunion, aside from being thoroughly bested by Jump Street, actually covers a lot of the same ground as American Wedding and doesn't really explore middle age, parenthood, or the awkwardness of running into former friends and flames at something as dreaded, drunken and desperately festive as a high school reunion. Jim and his cohorts are forced to reconcile their pasts and face a whole new breed of teenager, sure. But none of it is clever, witty or unexpected, and it's all been strip-mined by a thousand other rom-coms and sentimental gross-out comedies. Jim and Michelle have to spice up their marriage. Kevin has to choose between first love and meaningful love. Oz has to reconnect with the inner-man he lost so long ago. Finch has to get the girl and accept that being average doesn't make him less Finch-y. And Stifler has to, um, continue doing what Stifler always does and somehow still be rewarded. It's five run-of-the-mill comedies stitched together into a decaying genre monstrosity with no spark of life.

There are laughs to be had and I took part in quite a few. Finch is, as always, the series' sharpest scholar and gentlemen, Stifler's revenge on a pack of jet skiing teens (played by twentysomething models, like every other quote-unquote teenager in the film) offers a brief burst of loosed hilarity, and Jim's relationship with his dad, though a tad forced for once, is as heartfelt and redeeming as ever. Everything else suffers from an unmistakable malaise. Most of the jokes and gags fall flat, most of the former teens' storylines go nowhere, and most, if not all, of the film feels like a chore at best, a misguided cash-in at worst. Well-intentioned as each one is, no one -- writers/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg or longtime Pie producers Chris Moore, Craig Perry and Warren Zide -- seems to know what to do with Jim and his friends now that they're all grown up, and no one -- Biggs, Hannigan, Nicholas, Klein, Thomas, Scott or their assorted castmates and sordid screen lovers -- seems sure of how to handle the characters in their late twenties and early thirties. The episodic script is strung together, the performances are lazy retreads, and the whole production hinges on a wager that American Pie fans won't notice any of the problems as long as memories of the first film are being dangled on sticks in front of their faces. I have no doubt some Pie purists will get their fill with the fourth film, and I have no doubt a dwindling number of those same purists will walk away satisfied. That doesn't make it a decent sequel, though. Just shrewd, sloppy fan service.

American Reunion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

American Reunion sports a tough-to-lock-down 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video transfer. There aren't any significant technical issues to report, nor any glaring encoding anomalies; artifacting, banding, aliasing or otherwise. There's a hint of edge haloing and a bit of uneven noise, but nothing terribly distracting. In fact, grain presides over every scene, fine textures are in fairly good standing, and definition is quite good, barring some inherent softness. At least when the lights are up. Detail-draining crush is a problem at times, particularly during the titular reunion, and contrast can be rather hot and heavy. Not that black levels are always deep; more often than not, they're noticeably muted. Skintones are sometimes unnatural as well, skewing orange, red and every shade in between. And yet, for the most part, this is American Reunion as co-directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg and DP Daryn Okada intended. I have yet to wrap my head around the merit of the Pie aesthetic -- it doesn't lend itself to the tone of the series, gross-up the gross-out gags, enhance the comedy or heart of any given dust-up or run-in, or evoke Michigan in the slightest -- but that's not the purpose of a video analysis, so it's best to stop trying. American Reunion is, by and large, faithfully presented and proficiently encoded.

American Reunion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Front-heavy as it sometimes is, American Reunion sports a solid DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that rallies behind every loud-n-rowdy escapade, smashed jet ski, Celebrity Dance Off clip, and late '90s and early Noughts rock songs the fourth film's soundtrack slings together. Generally, if Stifler's up to no good, the LFE channel isn't far behind. Though restrained too often to elicit much praise, low-end output kicks the boys' shenanigans up a notch, throwing its weight behind every ounce of property destruction, alcohol-fueled unruliness and alt-rock antheming. The rear speakers offer up support as well, even if it's rather subtle when chaos isn't being unleashed on East Great Falls. Directionality is decidedly decent and pans are smooth, and the resulting soundfield keeps each misadventure light and playful. Dialogue is clean and clear at all times too, despite some painfully obvious ADR work, and voices never get buried beneath the lakeside parties, awkward encounters or reunion dances. Fans will be most pleased.

American Reunion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Unrated Version: The Blu-ray edition of American Reunion includes two cuts of the film: a 113-minute theatrical cut and a 114-minute unrated version. The differences are minimal, though, making the addition of a second Reunion shrug-worthy.
• Audio Commentary: Co-writer/co-director duo Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg serve up a by-the-numbers commentary in which the two split their time between trying to funny and trying to be informative. One out of two ain't bad.
• The "Out of Control" Track: An erratic and extraneous video commentary of sorts in which Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott and other members of the cast pop-up on screen and comment on the film.
• Deleted, Extended, Alternate Scenes and Gag Reel (HD, 41 minutes): Seven deleted scenes, thirteen extended scenes, a quick-hit montage of alternate takes, and a funnier-than-the-movie gag reel.
• The "Reunion" Reunion: Re-Launching the Series (HD, 11 minutes): Go behind-the-scenes of American Reunion with the actors and filmmakers to learn what inspired each one to be a part of the franchise's fourth non-DTV entry.
• The Best of Biggs: Hangin' with Jason B. (HD, 4 minutes): All hail actor/executive producer Jason Biggs, "one of the funniest human beings to walk this Earth" according to his castmates, co-workers and friends.
• Lake Bake (HD, 5 minutes): Go lakeside with the cast and crew.
• Dancing with the Oz (HD, 3 minutes): The innocence of Klein's smalltown kid gone hip-hopping Hollywood.
• American Gonad-iators: The Fight Scene (HD, 4 minutes): Filming Reunion's climactic adults-v-teens fist fight.
• Jim's Dad (HD, 3 minutes): The unsung hero of the Pie franchise gets a whopping three minutes.
• Ouch! My Balls! (HD, 2 minutes): Biggs and company spend the better part of the shoot planting punches.
• American Reunion Yearbook (HD): An interactive yearbook with clips from the entire Pie series.
• My Scenes Bookmarking

American Reunion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

American Reunion attempts a relaunch but merely tacks on a dull, diluted sequel to a dulling, diluting franchise. If American Pie was the movie of your youth, the fourth series entry might prove fun. If the first film was already tumbling down your list of go-to '90s comedies, the cast's Reunion will only force it to fall further. Nostalgia is the only saving grace here, and even that's stretched to the limit. Universal's Blu-ray release is at least less disappointing. While its video presentation has its share of eyesores and its supplemental package doesn't have as much to offer as it might first seem, its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track delivers and the ends justify the means. Or rather the cost of admission. Still, I'd recommend fans of the series hope for the best but brace for the worst.