The year 1999 marked a new beginning for the film community with the release of "American Pie." After its initial run in theaters, two things were changed forever: the "teen sex-comedy" solidified its place as a genre and none of us would ever look at warm apple pie the same way again. Since then this film became the first in a series encompassing four direct-to-DVD movies and soon to be four feature-length films with the release of "American Reunion" on Friday.
It has been quite some time since audiences have seen an "American Pie" film in theatres, the last being in 2003 with "American Wedding," and there is a great deal to catch up on in the lives of Jim and his friends. In the last film, Jim, played by Jason Biggs and the band geek Michelle, played by Alyson Hannigan, had just gotten married, and their close circle of friends began to make many changes in their own lives. In this new film we see these changes become evident at their high school reunion. Although Jim, Stifler, Finch and all of the other perennial favorites have grown up, they are still as funny, vulgar and perverted as ever.
While "American Reunion" does focus on aspects of growing up such as marriage and job responsibilities, it will still include everything viewers loved about the original. An "American Pie" film would not be the same without stories of band camp, awkward encounters with Jim's Dad, played by the hilarious Eugene Levy, and of course, some good old fashioned apple pie.
However, this seems to be a cause for contention with many of the people familiar with this comedy series.
"Movies like this fall short, because they can never match up to the first," junior Wardell Tindaan said. "And from the way it's looking, it'll rely on a lot of old jokes. As much as I enjoyed the first movie, I'm a bit cynical as to how 'American Reunion' will be."
Senior Megan Soltis agreed.
"I feel like it may be a desperate attempt to make more money and keep the 'American Pie' movie tradition in play," she said.
While some may be skeptical about the level of originality put into theeighth entry in a film series, there are still those who have high hopes for "American Reunion."
"I think it is a good idea to for a revisit to all those guys and seeing what they have done with their lives after the last movie," senior Matt Chapman said.
For some, this film is a way of offering closure in one of the most popular stories of this generation. Regardless, critics and audiences everywhere will have the final say when the film is released on April 6.
Christopher Spall can be reached at christopher.spall@student.shu.edu.
