I remember sitting in the desert, in the middle of Iraq and rummaging through some of the burned DVDs I brought with me before my deployment in 2004. I'd brought the entire American Pie trilogy with me and had just gotten through watching the first two entries. (Don't ask me why it took me until then to watch the original two films) Anyway, I remember feeling like the third entry, American Wedding, wasn't nearly as strong as the first two films. I felt it was just passable, and didn't surprise me being a 3rd film in the series. Let's face it, most 3rd films STINK in film franchises, with some rare exceptions. I'd thought at the time that Stifler was over-used and remember feeling like the entire film felt off because of the absence of Oz (Chris Klein) and some of the other familiar faces that were peppered into the first two films.
My how time heals wounds. After watching American Reunion last year and loving it, I noticed Netflix recently threw up American Wedding so I thought hey, why not. And in the end I think laughed a little harder and longer than I did with any of the other films. Now I'm not saying it's now my favorite of the 4 films, but it's a damn worthy entry into the series and now that I'm about ten years older, I was really able to absorb the intended laughs and flow of this film. For starters, I mentioned earlier I wasn't a fan of how much Stifler was a focal point for American Wedding when I first viewed it, but this time I couldn't get enough of it. Sean William Scott does an incredible job jacking up Stifler's antics and energy level, while still making the over the top performance just work. The ultra ADD version of Stifler works here whereas ten years ago it seemed out of place. Some things do get better with age.
And if you're not familiar with the story, Jim and Michelle are getting married. Along with that story arc, Michelle's sister comes to town (played by the then unknown January Jones, grr) to be apart of the festivities that suddenly draw her the attention of Finch, and Stifler. So as the story progresses you have Finch and Stifler doing their best to gain the admiration of Michelle's gorgeous sister, Cadence. One scene in particular that still has me gasping for air is when Stifler literally has to eat shit to save face with Cadence's mother, all the while Finch looks on in disgust (the facial expressions by Eddie Kaye Thomas in this scene were priceless) There's also a great nightclub scene, early on in the film that has quite the memorable dance off between Finch, and a new character named Bear.
Overall, I loved this film the second go around. It aged well, and I think one thing working for it is it took the series in a fresh direction by having a little more Stifler and a little less of Oz and the rest of the gang working out their problems. (something I didn't appreciate about the film upon first viewing as a young-in) I realize some criticized it for excluding Oz, as well as really watering down Kevin's screen time, but it's of no concern because Stifler carries this movie.
So if you haven't already, revisit the 3rd American Pie film, American Wedding, and feel free to leave comments below if you felt differently seeing it when it was first released as compared to right now. I know I did! In the end I can say I love all 4 of the theatrically released American Pie films, and can't necessarily pick a favorite, (although the latest one hit home due to it's late 20s/early 30s midlife crisis theme) but American Wedding is by no means lowering the bar of quality laughs in this series, not in the least.
Nuff said.
Great review...it's a great movie
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