The problem with most comedy sequels is that they suck. This is especially apparent in the teen-sex genre. Let’s take a look at a prime example, “Revenge of the Nerds”. The original “Nerds” is arguably the quintessential film of the genre. (I know a lot of people would say Porky’s, but let’s ignore them for now.) The first one had everything you could ever want in teen-sex flick; nerds, jocks, babes, virgins, parties, beer, drugs, sex, an ample amount of nudity (“Hair-pie!”), and to top it off it was really damn funny. It deservedly became a big hit film, spawning the inevitable sequel, “Nerds in Paradise”. Fine, let’s
follow the adventures of Louis, Gilbert, Booger, and the others. Wait! Where the hell did they go?! And why the hell is Gilbert staying home? Oh, he’s got a broken leg, thanks for that wonderful explanation. Okay… I guess I can live without them, just bring on the boobs! Crap, this is rated PG-13. Well, maybe it can still be funny? Blah, I’m not laughing at all, in fact I’m quite bored. Damn you Nerds!!
This is a perfect example of everything that can go wrong with a sequel. The original sets up a good concept and setting, with some great characters to follow. They establish certain rules; #1: Breasts will shown every 15 minutes. #2: There must be at least 100 references to sex. #3: Characters will be humiliated in every scene until the climax. The sequel yanks the audience away from the comforting setting. Characters that we fell in love with the first film have gone missing. On top of that, they try to lure in a whole new audience with the PG-13 rating, therefore losing all the nudity and the best of the sex talk. They completely betrayed the lovers of the first film.
These kinds of movies were released all the time during the 80’s. It seemed like HBO or Cinemax (Skinamax to us in the know.) had one these movies on every night. I grew up on these films; “Just One of the Guys”, “Hardbodies”, “Private School”, “Hamburger: The Movie”, of course “Porky’s”, and the granddaddy of them all “Animal House”. Because of these films, I couldn’t wait to get to high school and then on to college. Of course these movies did not prepare me for the hell-hole that high school really is. It’s kind of ironic that these movies fell out of favor during my high school and college years, when I could have really used them, because that’s definately not the type of life I was living. In 1999, now in my early 20’s, nothing could have been more welcome than to hark back to the old days with the surprisingly great “American Pie”.
It is clearly obvious that the makers of “American Pie” knew their source material well. Once again there were jocks and nerds, some appeasing nudity, and more sex talk and gross-out humor than I had ever seen before. The film caught me completely off guard, and I was once again a h***y 13 year old cheering on these guys to get laid.
Upon hearing about the sequel, I immediately had thoughts about the lamer and tamer versions of “Porky’s” and “Revenge of the Nerds” that haunted my youth. Would Stifler go missing? Would they be taking a trip to Hawaii? Would they try to make it PG-13?! As the film drew nearer I noticed that the advertising was skewed towards letting you know that all the characters would be back. I saw that lovely R in a box at the end of the trailer. But I still had my doubts, and I was equally anticipating and dreading actually sitting down to watch it.
I’m ecstatic to report that “American Pie 2” did not disappoint. Every character is back, and I do mean everybody. Right down to the guys who were making out with the picture of Stifler’s mom and chanting; “MILF!!” Most of the girls have smaller roles, and Heather is on a trip to Europe, but who cares, it wasn’t really about them anyways. To make up for it, Michelle (band camp girl) has a much bigger part in the story.
I don’t really need to tell you about the characters. If you saw the first film, you know who they are, and they haven’t changed. If you didn’t see the first one, then you probably won’t have any interest in seeing the second. (So why are you reading this?) The setting changes slightly to a beach house that the boys decide to rent. The house is in the same area, so all the other characters can conveniently drop by. It’s still about the boys trying to get laid, it contains the exact same kind of gross-out humor, and maybe most importantly, it again shows us some boobies. (That was the part you pervs were waiting for.)
Since the plot doesn’t really matter and I don’t want to give away any of the jokes, let me just say; lesbians, band camp, golden showers, tantric sex, masturbation and Stifler’s mom. It all culminates into huge party at the end of the film. (Is there any better way to end a film of this sort?) Let the hilarity ensue.
