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(More customer reviews)Band Camp Girl 1: "Where'd you put my clarinet?"
Band Camp Girl 2: "Oh, I think I shoved it in your box."
This and many other extreme phrases make "American Pie 2" the funniest and most successful sequel of the year. The entire cast from the first film has returned for another helping of pie that is a basic reheating of the first slice, but still retaining its savored laughs and gross-out humor. The film is laugh-out-loud funny, one of the few summer movies in which you get your money's worth.
The movie picks up a year after the first one left off, as our gang is preparing the celebrate their first summer in college. Their plans: to rent a summer house by a lake and have loads of fun until the summer is over. The plot isn't really structurally different from the first film, though the enemy in this case is divided amongst the five guys in the group.
Jim hasn't learned a thing since losing his virginity before graduating high school, and becomes frantic when he learns that Nadia is coming to pay him a "visit." Desperate for advice on his technique, he goes to "flute fetish" Michelle, who seems to want more than just to give him advice. Kevin has mixed feelings about his past relationship with Vicki, who shows up with sex educator Jessica. Oz and Heather's relationship has blossomed into full bloom, while Stifler is constantly looking for a good lay and arguing with Finch, who is continually obsessing about Stifler's mom.
And there you have it, the basic formula for some of the most hearty laughs of the year. Sure, it can be pretty crude at times, and most of the jokes and gags here mirror those of the first one in their positioning throughout the film. The "pale ale" is replaced with a shower of "champagne," while Jim is seen practicing on a pillow instead of an apple pie. The Internet broadcast is given a new treatment in a sequence involving walkie-talkies that transmit over CB frequencies... you just have to see the film to understand the laughs.
And even more than its predecessor, "American Pie 2" focuses more on sex than anything else, from things like phone sex and rubber toys to the male hormones and how far they'll go to see what they want to see. It's crude, but those of us who know what these characters are going through are able to laugh at their situations.
And underneath it all, the movie still retains some of the wholesome family values and lessons, even if its subject matter is in total contrast. Jim's dad returns to the movie in many places to offer his own personal history of sexual awakening and experimenting, while the cumbersome way in which each character comes to their realization at the film's end gives us a funny yet true lesson on morals and values.
The cast brings the same comical stamina to their roles as in the first film, especially Jason Biggs, who reprises the role of Jim as if he never left it to begin with. His ability to let himself go for the sake of tickling our fancy is a trait he should cherish always. Each cast member, especially those who fill the roles of the males, each embody a college stereotype that is easy to point out, while the females haven't lost their edge.
It won't win any Academy Awards, but "American Pie 2" is for this year what "Scary Movie" was to last year's crowds. It's side-splitting and outrageous, and knows just how to make us laugh in all the right ways. Laugh if you dare, for you may not be able to stop!
Click Here to see more reviews about: American Pie 2/Beneath the Crust Vol. 2 (Unrated/Full Screen) (2001)
Special Bonus DVD "Beneath the Crust" contains new material. The filmmakers and crew discuss the origins of the series and reminisce about "American Pie 2." Also featured are scenes from "American Wedding." (30 mins) Original American Pie 2 DVD contains: Commentary by director, producer, writer and cast Theatrical trailer(s) Outtakes Widescreen anamorphic format
