Cast: You know them all. They were good in 1999. A group of up and comers who looked ready to take Hollywood by storm. Well, that didn't pan out, exactly. Now, they're back doing the shtick that made them famous, only older. I've always liked Jason Biggs and I think he could be a great sit-com star, like Alyson Hannigan. Sean Williams Scott is normally too much. No exception here. Someone dusted off Tara Reid. Not sure if that was necessary. Most of the new faces are there are T&A. I always love seeing Katrina Bowden though, especially like this.
Plot: Remember the first couple movies? Yeah, it's more of the same. That's either good or bad, depending on your taste. I had a lot of fun with all the lines they through into a narrative to make this movie fit, explaining the the reunion was actually a 13 year one and why different characters were missing in different movies. The comedy landscape has changed tremendously even since American Wedding came out, yet this still relies on the same gross-out, absurd jokes from the originals, which aren't bad, only dated. It's interesting that the theme of the movie is essentially "we're getting too old for this", but they keep doing it. They are trying to have their cake and eat it too, so to speak.
Soundtrack: Heavy with 90s nostalgia. This makes the point very early on that they are looking to bring back as many old fans without trying to get new ones. My take on the whole movie was that it is meant as the final chapter, not a new beginning, so I guess it's hard to fault them on that.
Elephant in the Room: Did anyone need this movie to be made? No. The whole time I watched this, I was reminded of "Old Dogs", "Couple's Retreat", and "Grown-Ups". These are all movies where the cast wants to pretend they aren't too old. "American Reunion" is not as bad as any of those. The cast is still pretty young. The type of comedy the movie does is a younger man's game. This cast, with a different style of humor, could come together very well. As it, though, it feels uneven all the way through.
To sum things up:
Netflix Instant Stream worthy, especially if you really like the franchise (excluding direct to DVD entries). You can see it in theaters, but good luck finding a theater full of people who will find the movie as funny as the producers wanted it to be.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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