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37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lewd, crude, and immensely entertaining!, August 13, 2001
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!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Prepare for Reviewination, July 25, 2003
Don't you hate sequels that are just clones of the original movies with ten times the action and one one hundredth the plot? Well, then you'll be happy to hear that American Pie 2 isn't one of those movies. The plot, which doesn't play a significant part in either, is different: the four friends, back from their first year of college, have decided to rent a lake house on Lake Michigan and throw the biggest and best party that the town has ever seen. Also, Jim (Jason Biggs) is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) the hot Czech girl that he almost scored with the previous year, and he is taking lessons on how to please girls from Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), his prom date. During these sequences, we, the audience, begin to realize that Jim and Michelle are meant to be, and part of the fun is watching how oblivious they are to it. But the best part is, the entire cast is back, although, there is a shift in importance of characters. The four main guys don't change much, but Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) does get a little weirder. Stifler (Seann William Scott) becomes a bigger character in this one, though. He still isn't part of the group, but he is in more scenes and he's in on the deal this time. The girls are a whole different story. In the first movie, they were given significant screentime and they appeared in scenes by themselves. Now, the only girl who you can say has "significant" screentime is Michelle, the girl (of the five main ones) who had the smallest role in the first one. Also, there is only one big scene with only girls, and it is with Vicky and Jessica (Tara Reid and Natasha Lyonne). Michelle is by herself for a few moments at the end, but then Jim arrives to whisk her away. All in all, this movie is hilarious, just as good, if not better than, the first. As I said, not too much story, but (1) there is more plot in this movie than in most other teen movies combined, and (2) that isn't what fans are looking for in an American Pie movie. Enjoy, and prepare for Shermination.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious!, January 26, 2002
The first American Pie started the trend, but American Pie 2 has even more laughs. And it has retained and amplified one important aspect of the original, a somewhat cornball sentimentality that offers a nice counterbalance to the gross sight gags and pervasive atmosphere of salaciousness.Jason Biggs continues to throw himself into the most embarrassing of situations with admirable gusto, and the movie hinges on his ability to play Jim's most humiliating shenanigans with an odd but appealing, dogged dignity...even when wearing only his drawers. His comic timing is even better than last time, and the movie's best moments come of his straight-faced delivery. And in this sequel you can see how Alyson Hannigan managed to walk off with the most famous line in the original: Given much more weight in American Pie 2, Hannigan is a delight, playing Michelle's offbeat geekiness but hidden warmth to perfection. And her deadpan delivery (the "trumpet" line is bound to become another classic) is beautiful as always. Shannon Elizabeth is surprisingly lacklustre, and Tara Reid is still stuck with the most boring character of the bunch, but otherwise the rest of the supporting cast (Seann William Scott is especially good, reprising uber-jock Stifler) is great, and the sight and verbal gags come faster and tighter than in the original, with the benefit of familiar characters. The famous central gag (won't give it away) had me belly-laughing for a solid minute, something I haven't done since the first time I saw Clerks. No, it's not cerebral, nor is it an unprecedented classic. But for a good rowdy night of teen comedy, American Pie 2 hits the spot.
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