The recent sequel is more entertaining than the original by bringing back the entire cast of the first movie and delivering a much funnier film.
The Movie
It's been a little over a year since we last saw the gang from American Pie. They're finishing up their first year of college and have one last great summer together ahead of them. The guys decide to put on a party end all parties and decide to rent a beach house. Throughout the film we watch the comedy unfold across this summer leading up to the big party.
The entire cast from the original film returns, which is pretty much crucial for any sequel to have a chance of exceeding the original. In this case, everyone is comfortable in their roles, and each character is just as fun as we remember them and some receive quite a bit more screen time than the first time around.
While I found the original American Pie somewhat entertaining, the laughs were spaced too far apart. However, the film didn't totally rely on gross-out humor to bring in the laughs (as in many other major comedies these days) and had a cast that worked well.
The sequel works partly due to the entire cast being back and also that they packed the film with laughs from beginning to end. It's consistently funny, which is very important for a comedy in my book.
Stifler (Seann William Scott) has some damn funny lines this time around, you get even more severe gross-out humor (don't cringe, the scene is really funny), and Jim's Dad is more embarrassing than before. The film isn't mean-spirited, but rather is light-hearted and fun all the way up to the happy ending.
This version is the Unrated edition, and it features bits and pieces added in here and there right from the beginning of the film. There is one scene towards the middle of the film that is funny as hell.
If you liked the original, you'll probably really dig this hilarious sequel. Even if you never saw the first film, you'll probably find yourself laughing your ass off here. This is one of those rare occasions where the sequel is actually better than the original.
8 out of 10
The Video
American Pie's first DVD release suffered from a bit of compression artifacts that hurt the picture a bit, and the transfer looked a little too artificial.
Those problems have been remedied with the sequels DVD release. The transfer is pretty clean with very little to no edge enhancement and no compression artifacts noticeable. Colors are bight and not over-done to give the film a very natural and film-like appearance.
9 out of 10
The Audio
You have the choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 tracks, but with this being a comedy, it isn't really the type of film to impress the neighbors with. Both tracks do an adequate job of filling the room with the various music cues in the flick, and the dialog comes through perfectly clear.
8 out of 10
The Extras
As expected from a Universal Collector's Edition, American Pie 2 is loaded with special features beginning with four audio commentaries. The first track is a solo job by Director J.B. Rogers, number two features the writer Adam Herz, and the third has Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari, and Thomas Ian Nicholas, while the final track is just Eddie Kaye Thomas by himself. Each one is feature-length, but my favorite one is the third track as it's the most lively and interesting to listen to.
"The Baking of American Pie" is one of those 30minute "HBO First Look"-style promotional specials where the cast all talk about how great it was to work on the movie and how fun it was to make the sequel. Not overly interesting.
"Good Times With the Cast and Crew" is a five-minute montage of behind-the-scenes footage that has some pretty funny moments in it.
"Outtakes" is just what it sounds like. You get over five minutes of the cast messing up and laughing at each other.
"Original Casting Tapes from American Pie" takes you to a different menu where you can view casting footage of Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, and Eddie Kaye Thomas from the first film.
"Deleted Scenes" is a rolling ten-minute reel of footage that was cut from the film. None of it was really important, and is mostly just filler material.
With those major extras out of the way, you can then watch a 3 Doors Down music video, view ten fan favorite scenes that are taken from both movies with the AP1 scenes being in non-anamorphic widescreen (the AP2 clips are just as they appear on the DVD), "Classic Quotes" that take you directly to a short clip of that quote in the film, a selection of Music Highlights, the trailer, and DVD Rom features.
Finally there is one last extra on the disc and that's the theatrical trailer for the upcoming Universal film The Bourne Identity that is based on the book of the same name.
Once again Universal has delivered a packed Collector's Edition that should satisfy any fan of the flick.
9 out of 10