Review of American Pie 2

Introduction

I suspect that in dictionaries of the future, part of the definition of the word "inevitable" will have something to do with successful Hollywood movies and their sequels. American Pie 2 is no exception to this. The arrival of this movie on DVD was probably preordained from the moment the writer pitched the first movie to Universal executives.

The original movie lowered the bar for film humour and this sequel cheerfully sets a standard that only limbo dancers can aspire to. American Pie offered the audience the intellectual first of depicting an act of gross indecency involving a freshly-baked apple pie. This ingeniously titled sequel takes the audience a step further with the disaster-prone central character mistakenly using super-glue as a lubricant while self-abusing. You`ll cringe, you`ll wince, and you`ll probably laugh yourself sick. The audience is thrust once again into the world of post-pubescent angst, embarrassing parents and precipitous loss of dignity.

Everybody from the first film is back, this time enjoying a beach-house holiday at the end of their freshman college year and finding out that nothing stays the same. Jason Biggs returns as disaster-prone Jim, Eugene Levy as his well-meaning but embarrassing father, Alyson Hannigan (Buffy`s Willow) as band geek sex teacher Michelle and Seann W Scott as moron supremo Stifler. Eddie Kaye Thomas, who as Finch slept with Stifler`s Mom in the first movie studies Tantric sex in the hope of a replay.

Video

Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic, the picture is pleasing, sharp, colourful and lacking in artifacts. The accompanying materials are in a variety of aspect ratios (4:3, 4:3 letterbox and 1.85:1 anamorphic), and particularly the deleted scenes and outtakes reveal their not-for-public-consumption source. The deleted scenes include time codes.

Audio

This disk comes with a DD5.1 soundtrack as you would expect, but also a DTS track. Unfortunately there is little for either option to demonstrate spatial effects other than the odd ambient or atmospheric effect. The sound mix is unadventurous and sticks around the screen rather than venturing out on its own.

Features

There are three, count `em three commentary tracks - one from director J.B.Rogers, one from cast members Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari and Thomas Ian Nicholas, and a third from Eddie Kaye Thomas. There is a 25 minute publicity puff piece called "The Baking Of American Pie 2", Outtakes, Deleted Scenes, a music video, theatrical trailer (with intro by Jason Biggs), filmographies, production notes, clips from both movies as "favourite piece of pie" and some classic "Pie" quotes.

Conclusion

An outstanding presentation for the magnum opus of cringe-comedy. I defy anyone not to squirm as much as they laugh at this festival of bodily functions. Oh, and watch out for what Alyson (Buffy`s Willow) Hannigan does with a trumpet. If she did that to a vampire in Sunnydale, I reckon Buffy would be looking for a new career.