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American Reunion - 4 stars ****

I wanted to see this as soon as I saw the advert, as American Pie just takes me back to the whole of my teenage years! The premise of the film was pretty straight forward: the school that the loveable guys from the original lineup went to is holding its reunion, so the three of them that are still in touch (Jim, Kevin and Oz) arrange to meet up a couple of days before to have a catchup prior to the main event. They are gatecrashed by Finch, who they have not heard from for years, and of course Stifler, from which straight away, you know chaos will ensue.

What I found great about this film were two things. Firstly, its simplicity. The directors and writers haven't tried to make it anything it isn't, it is the same gross comedy, cringeworthy mishaps and believable relationships that have presided throughout the first 'three' films (I am not including the various offshoot films or extended editions in this number!). This was added to by the second good thing about this film: that it is one of the few sequels to include the complete original cast - even down to the MILF guys, and The Sherminator! So there wasn't that confused moment when the audience suddenly realises, 'Ohhh, so he's supposed to be X now'. I think all of the actors got their first shot at fame because of American Pie, and so probably felt some kind of affiliation towards it, which I think is a pleasure to see in today's Hollywood.

Because we are all so used to expecting the most crude jokes and awkward scenes from the original trilogy, I think the opportunity to address some actually fairly relevant topics for the characters' ages (early thirties) was handled well, as they were directly contrasted with humour. 

Jim and Michelle's (Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan) marriage is a bit rocky since the birth of their first child; Oz (Chris Klein) is a successful sports commentator with the perfect house, car and stunning girlfriend, but is concerned that he hasn't found the love of his life and settled down yet; Stifler (Sean William Scott) is still bumming around the town he came from, struggling to find a job that he can stick at, and having lost all his friends; Kevin is happily married, but feels emasculated, and confronted with old flame Vicky (Tara Reid) has a hard time dealing with it; and Finch is living a lie, telling everyone he has travelled the world and had crazy adventures, when really he works in a branch of Staples and feels he has accomplished nothing in life. 

All of these things, as well as generally growing up, having to deal with the death of a parent and facing past demons are something that everyone can relate to, no matter how old they are, and I think this is the overall beauty of this film. It is genuinely funny, heartfelt, and leaves you happy at the end, as everyone gets what they want. Who would have thought it from American Pie?