I went to see American Pie 2 last night not expecting much. Sequels usually drop the ball, and comedy sequels especially. You get a watered-down version of the first movie with half the cast replaced and jokes that feel like they're trying too hard to remind you of what you liked the first time around. So I was genuinely surprised walking out of this one.
The whole crew is back. Jim, Oz, Kevin, Finch, Stifler, the girls. Everyone. That alone is unusual. And they actually found something for all of them to do. The setup is simple: the guys rent a beach house for the summer after their first year of college, and things go sideways from there in pretty much every direction you'd expect. There's a running bit involving Jim and a tube of super glue that is exactly as bad as it sounds and funnier than I expected.
What works is that the movie trusts the characters. It's not just a series of gross-out gags stapled together, I mean it is, but the jokes land harder because you already know these people. Jim still can't get out of his own way. Stifler is still Stifler. The movie uses that instead of trying to reset everything.
If you liked the first one, this is worth a look.
