I Try To Not Think About Death Much (Return of the Living Dead, 1985)

In 1986, Alien Screenwriter Dan O’Bannon made a deal to direct (he had directed a short film seventeen years earlier) a film. He was to make an unofficial sequel of sorts to Night of the Living Dead.

An effects heavy zombie film, the big twist of the Return of the Living Dead is it is a comedy. A gory one, but a comedy none the less. We are quickly introduced to Frank and Freddy, employees of a medical supply company. After Burt (the boss) leaves for the weekend, Frank starts to show Freddy around, skeletons, half dogs and cadavers and the like. He also tells Freddy that they have some canisters with real zombies (and proceeds to proclaim the Night of the Living Dead was a real thing, just altered for the film). They look at the canisters and accidentally release an ominous gas. When they wake up, they find all the dead things seeming to be alive. This leads to some hilarity as they call Burt in and the three try and fix the problem.

Meanwhile, Freddy’s girlfriend Tina is hanging out with her friends (a bunch of punks) in a graveyard waiting for Freddy to get done with work. This includes a bizarre moment Trash (Scream Queen Linnea Quigley), obsessed with death starts expressing a fantasy of being eaten alive (foreshadowing, folks)…she then strips and dances upon a tombstone. Burt, Frank and Freddy go across the street with a cut up cadaver and check in with mortician Ernie. They ask to use the crematorium to dispose of rabid weasels. But as the body burns, it creates more ominous smoke which causes a storm and in turn the rain soaks the ground, re-animating the graveyard.

What follows is the characters trying to survive the hoards of zombies. Everyone gets trapped in the mortuary or the medical supply warehouse. The film finds a lot of humor in it’s gruesome subject. Thom Mathews (Freddy) and James Karen (Frank) have a great rapport and are very entertaining as the two discover they are slowly turning into zombies. Really, the entire cast is entertaining. Along with Mathews and Karen, Clu Gulager (Burt) and Don Calfa (Ernie…get it?) are very funny. It helps that everyone seems to be in on the joke, leading to fun performances.

The effects are terrific, still holding up for the most part. There is one especially well done zombie effect with a “half” zombie. Another memorable character is the Tar Man…a slimy decomposing zombie. The actor in the outfit moves with a creepy fluidity. The film actually pays little attention to traditional film zombie lore. They cannot be killed by damaging the brain, even cutting them up, the zombie parts all act independently. The zombies can also talk. This is one of the first incidents of zombies being focused on eating brains (In Romero’s films, they just want to eat flesh). And they constantly announce “Brains!” But they can form sentences. One zombie even explains why they desire to eat brains.

Oh, there are some question to ask…for example, why, after being eaten alive, is Zombie Linnea Quigley have not a single bite…instead she has perfect porcelain skin. How can the zombies with no lips (some zombies do, some don’t) say stuff like “Brains” and “More Brains”?

Shout!Factory released a Blu-Ray special edition through their Scream!Factory imprint. It is loaded with special features. There are four audio commentaries (two are brand new), zombie subtitles (which is an amusing feature for a short time, featuring subtitles like “Arggh” whenever zombies speak), an extensive documentary “More Brains: Return to the Living Dead”, a final interview with the late O’Bannon and many more features.

The picture (from a 2K scan) is clean and looks good. The two disc set is worthy of any fan’s collection.

October 5, 2016 0

In the Beginning (Dark Star, 1974)

John Carpenter’s feature length debut was an odd comedy about four astronauts doing space work or something. They blow up planets as prep for colonization of other planets in that solar system. Aside from Carpenter, probably the most notable thing about Dark Star is that it was written by Dan O’Bannon, who went on to write Alien, as well as Return of the Living Dead and the Arnold version of Total Recall. O’Bannon also plays a character named Pinback in the film.

It is a very low budget film, even by the standards of Carpenter. He has always been a guy who can stretch a buck…but this film reeeeaaaally Stretches the dollar. The film feels like a student film, and the cast outside of Carpenter and O’Bannon have slight to no film resumes beyond Dark Star. The alien in the film looks like a beach ball. Because it is.

You can see hints of O’Bannon’s future work, such as having the female voiced computer called Mother or trying to stop a self destruct countdown. But to be honest, it is hard to see the talent at work. I mean, I know what both became. Carpenter has directed some of my favorites. The music, by Carpenter does not hint at all of his future classic soundtracks, such as Halloween or Escape From New York. Instead there is a bizarre country song that plays over the credits.

This is most definitely not the place to start with Carpenter, and is more of an odd footnote.

October 5, 2016 2

It’s a Disaster (Murder Party, 2007)

Murder Party takes what could could be a very serious horror movie concept and instead opts to go the road of comedy. Christopher is a loner who lives a quiet life of habit. He receives a mysterious invite to a Halloween party. He makes a knight costume out of cardboard and duct tape and heads off. Finding the remote warehouse location, he finds a odd group. It turns out they are throwing a special party. He is quickly thrown into a room, as it turns out that Halloween party is for serial killers. And Christopher is meant to be one of their victims.

As I said, it is a straight up horror concept. But director Jeremy Saulnier goes for the dark humor. The film is full of little moments (such as Christopher riding the subway while a guy fires off a rap in his face) or when one of the killers acts all badass and when he thinks he has hurt Christopher and like kid, freaks out and starts apologizing. The film takes a turn when Christopher musters the courage to fight back and try and escape. The chases that ensue are comical.

The visual queues are a lot of fun. All the serial killers are dressed like characters from other films. For example, one kid is dressed like a member of the Baseball Furies from the Warriors, another as Daryl Hannah’s character from Blade Runner.

It is kind of interesting to compare this with his later works, the brutal and intense Blue Ruin and Green Room. This is, by comparison, a light-hearted film. It is also a lower budget (according to someone on the IMDB, it was made for no money at all). But Saulnier was skilled enough even in his debut to make a film that looks like he had more money than he did.

Murder Party is a weird and funny film, good for some laughs this Halloween.

October 3, 2016 0

Surf the Skies (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 2007)

I think people were a little surprised that the Fantastic Four got a sequel. And you gotta admit, doing the Silver Surfer/Galactus saga is a grand idea. Then they get Doug Jones for the physical body and Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Silver Surfer (this was not actually a great idea in retrospect). Things are looking good! Man, who will they cast a Galactus, right?! Will he be totally CGI or what?!

So, we start off with Galactus eating a planet. Actually, we get a planet sized version of the Smoke Creature from Lost. Not kidding. Maybe Galactus is inside the cloud, right?! Then the Silver Surfer heads towards earth… where we find Sue totally freaking out about her pending nuptials. Seriously, how freaky must an invisible Bridezilla be?! But the Surfer ruins their first wedding attempt.

Johnny chases after the Surfer and ends up being dragged nearly into out space. He has trouble as he falls to earth. We find out that this is due to the effects of the cosmic energy that the Silver Surfer gives off. The Surfer continues gliding across the globe-his magic (so to speak) starts to impact the atmosphere and even frees Dr. Doom from his statue state.

Reed discovers Johnny can now switch powers with his team mates. This allows for another “Sue Caught Naked In Public” scene. It also gives an amusing moment when Johnny becomes Thing-i-fied and Ben returns to normal and has fire powers. The team has to try and save people from the effects of the Surfer’s travels, and find it harder than usual as they keep switching powers every time Johnny bumps into someone.

Reed soon discovers a pattern by tracing the Silver Surfer’s path through the cosmos. All the planets he has visited have been destroyed. So he starts formulating a plan to catch the Surfer. Both the Military and Dr. Doom join in. Of course, the audience knows he has an ulterior motive. Sue, meanwhile contributes about whining about not getting married yet. Eventually, they catch the Surfer (partially because he is enamored by Sue). This is when Doom strikes, stealing the Surfer’s tubular board-the apparent source of his power.

Dr. Doom plans to rule the world-while the giant cloud of smoke threatens to destroy it. The Fantastic Four tries to fight Cosmic Doom, but instead, he hits Sue with a fatal shot. Johnny takes everyone’s powers and beats the crap out of Doom, gets the Surfer his board back. The Surfer uses his magic to heal Sue and he flies into space to take on Galactus. So, now we finally get to see the real Galactus!!! AWESOME!!!! Oh wait…it actually is just a big cloud.

The Surfer seems to sacrifice himself to save the earth (except we find out he survived for a potential spin off). Reed and Sue get married and everyone is totally happy.

Well, except the viewer. The first film stumbled a lot, and the folks behind the this one (the same team as the first, pretty much) seemed to indicate they learned their lesson. But from character design to strange choices… Sue is once again reduced to offering little in the way of being a strong heroine, as she spends the whole film whining about getting married. It gets so bad that she chastises Reed both for having fun dancing in a club and also trying to protect the world instead of focusing on getting married. Because…why save the world, y’know?

While the power switching issue is an interesting concept, it never quite gels. And frankly, a Fantastic Four movie where three members sit out the final battle and one member pummels the bad guy? It kind of misses the point of calling them the Fantastic Four.

Galactus seems so secondary as a threat… Doctor Doom and his scheme to get the Surfer’s power. Once he has that power? He does not run off to stop Galactus from destroying the planet he wants to rule. No, he just goes around flaunting his power. This is a terrible lapse in logic and reduces one of the great complex comic book villains to Bad Guy with No Real Plan.

And let’s look at Galactus. I’ve commented on this before, but it bears repeating. A giant cloud is not awe inspiring. I get that folks involved might have thought the traditional appearance of the character would look goofy. But the cloud has no identity. What, a large (twelve feet or so) guy in a ship that is his life support machine was impossible to create? Make the ship in the shape of the helmet from the comics as a tip to fans. Done.

I will say that I found Ioan Gruffud far more engaging this time around. McMahon less so. Evans and Chiklis were terrific…and Alba? Well, god bless her, she tries to make a thankless role work… but they really give her two jobs… pout and be pretty. And yet again, the second film finds a way to get a sequence where she is naked in public. Oi. Kerry Washington is back as Alicia Masters…she does fine, but the role is pretty much there to show that the only person who could love Ben Grimm is a person unable to see him. Granted, that is part of the character in the comics as well…but still.

I will say the effects are pretty solid, and the Silver Surfer looks terrific. And Doug Jones is a top notch performer. I had the opportunity to speak with Jones last year and he noted he had actually been recording a really unique voice for the Surfer, which makes it a shame they over dubbed him, even if it was Laurence Fishburne.

Instead of stepping up and blowing it’s predecessor out of the water, the second film feels even more lackluster, and screws up a great comic story that should have been pretty easy to pull off.

September 13, 2016 0

The Four (Fantastic Four, 2005)

Oh…the controversy. The first Fantastic Four film was coming up after the successes of X2 and Spider-Man. The time seemed ripe to bring forth Marvel’s first family. This is not the first attempt. Roger Corman made an absolutely terrible film simply to retain the film rights in the early 90’s. The film was available on the convention circuit, but was never officially released.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Fantastic Four ushered in the age of Marvel comics. Spider-Man and the X-Men may have gotten to the big screen first, but the First Family? Well…they were…uh…first. Lee and Kirby produced 102 issues of grand cosmic adventures.

The 2000’s seemed like an ideal time to adapt the film, because effects allowed the possibility of the characters not looking quite so ridiculous. And both X2 and Spider-Man 2 had proven what you could do with a comic book movie.

Marvel hired Tim Story, who at that time had Barbershop and Taxi as the big films under his belt. Writers Mark Frost and Michael France had long histories (Frost wrote for Twin Peaks and a lot of television since then, while France contributed to several Marvel films). The announcement of Story was surprising, as this was a big event movie. But one of the reasons Marvel brought him on board was to have the focus be on the family dynamic of the Fantastic Four. This is important, because it is that family dynamic that makes the Fantastic Four work. They are not simply four team members. They are a family unit and operate as such.

The first big controversy was the announcement of Jessica Alba. Specifically, former Fantastic Four writer/artist John Byrne declared Hispanic women who dye their hair blonde look like prostitutes. He’s all class.

The film begins with Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffud) and Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) making a pitch to Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), Science Based Industrialist. He has the money, while Reed is on hard times. Agreeing to do a test involving a cosmic cloud that will pass by Earth, the crew-comprised of Reed, Ben, Victor, Sue Storm (Alba) and hot Hamish Linklatershot pilot (and Sue’s Brother) Johnny Storm (Chris Evans).

Due to a miscalculation, the storm hits earlier than expected. When the crew comes to on back on earth, they find themselves quarantined in a very fancy mountaintop chalet. They start to notice changes. Sue starts to fade, Reed can stretch like rubber, Johnny can generate fire and Ben? He gains weight. Well, that and turns into an orange rock monster.

In a moment of desperation, Ben unintentionally causes an accident, and then goes about trying to save people. The other three jump in and help. After successfully averting a fatal disaster, they find themselves to be celebrities. Reed discovers that their space suits now work in conjunction with their powers. Reed begins a search to cure the four. However, Johnny is enjoying his powers. While showing off, he gives them all code names-The Invisible Girl (to which Sue bristles), Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch and the Thing.

Meanwhile, Doom is having troubles of his own. He is apparently mutating, and his board of directors is taking him company out from under him. Doom is growing more and more paranoid. He soon discovers he can manipulate electricity. He starts exacting his revenge.

Ben meets a young woman named Alicia (Kerry Washington) who is a blind sculptor. She is instantly smitten, while Ben cannot understand why she would be interested in a monster.

Johnny continues to revel in his popularity, while Reed works to solve the riddle of returning them to normal and re-kindling his romance with Sue. Victor sees his opportunity. Victor helps Ben reverse his condition, but Ben realizes this is mistake, as the Fantastic Four is a family and a team who all bring something to the table with their powers. After Ben gets his powers restored, they have an all out battle with Doom, learning to work together as a team and taking Dr. Doom down.

To be blunt…the film is just not that great. Oh, it has it’s moments. The sequence where they save people on the bridge is thrilling. The resolution of their fight with Doctor Doom is solid. There is a lot of humor and nice touches (Johnny walking along popping popcorn with his hand). But so much of the problem lies in the villain’s motivation. Why is he so keen to kill our heroes? Sure, he’s jealous, and he becomes paranoid…but it feels like there is no real solid reason for Victor getting his hate on.

The casting is troubling as well. Now don’t get me wrong, Chiklis was inspired casting. He plays a perfect Ben Grimm. And Chris Evans is terrific as Johnny Storm. He is brash and excited, loving his powers. He uses his powers for fun as well as heroics. The chemistry between Chiklis and Evans is pretty great, they really capture that spirit of the adversarial friendship from the comics. The adversarial part is played up a little more, but it still makes for some enjoyable exchanges. And Julian McMahon does make a good Doom. He portrays the arrogant pride very well.

But then there is Ioan Gruffud. He has been good in other roles, but for some reason, his Reed Richards is pretty dull. And JessicaAlba. Oh, I get the idea of casting her. At the time she was more of a draw, giving them star power. And they took advantage of the casting (a gag wear Sue disrobes in public and suddenly becomes visible was apparently added after she had read the script). I get it, she’s pretty. But the problem is, Alba comes across as so much younger than everyone else-including her younger brother Johnny. It becomes hard to buy that she and Reed have some sort of broken past that needs mending.

Another big problem is some of the story choices. Specifically as this was meant to kick off a franchise. Curing Ben, albeit temporarily, in the first film is a poor choice. This is a franchise…build on that. Save it for down the road. Let it mean some something to the fans. Let it breathe, rather than be a five minute bit in the film.

This could have been a fun film, and the extended cut they released is a definite improvement. But this film does not rise to the levels of even the first X-Men and Spider-Man films.

September 12, 2016 0

Back to the Swamp (the Return of Swamp Thing, 1989)

One of the writers of the Return of Swamp Thing went on to write the screenplay for the beloved Disney comedy Hokus Pocus. On the other hand, it is directed by Jim Wynorski, He has a spotty record and his later career includes films with “breast” or “busty” in the title. And it is not a good sign when your hero monster appears and is asked who he is…he responds, “They call me…Swamp Thing”.

The film switches to Arcane’s mansion. Arcane is inexplicably alive and human again (okay, in fairness, half way through, they explain it). Arcane is played by the returning Louis Jourdan. He is trying to master Holland’s formula with the help of scientist Dr. Lana Zurell (played by Superman II’s Sarah Douglas). They are ending up with a series of mutations. Borrowing from the comics, these are the un-men. One is running loose in the swamp, called the Leechman.

Abby Arcane (played by Heather Locklear) arrives trying to make peace with her stepfather, unaware of his diabolical experiments. She roams the swamps and gets into trouble with some moonshiners and is saved by the Swamp Thing. Romance blossoms.

At one point, the film turns into the Little Rascals…if they spent their time looking at porn. The scene is there for comedic relief, and he film justifies their presence by having them go on a quest to get a picture of Swamp Thing. The film is far more comedy action film that never takes it’s source seriously. It rehashes Wes Craven’s film and is full of lines like “Let’s mash him into guacamole” and “Is there a Mrs. Swamp Thing?”

This time around, the Swamp Thing gets to really use the powers afforded him in the comics. He can regrow in new locations…and now he can drive a jeep. The Swamp Thing drives a jeep. The effects are a bit better this time around. Swamp Thing and the monsters look pretty good. The film lacks any sense of urgency, and the music that plays whenever Swamp Thing is being heroic is just amazingly out of place. There are scenes lifted from other films (there is a scene where two characters compare scars, just like in Jaws). Really, the film’s entire tone is off and the film is more camp than horror. Okay…a monster taking a hit from his asthma inhaler is kind of funny.

I will say, the opening credits (which play over a montage of Swamp Thing comic book cover art) look cool.

August 17, 2016 0

No Fear (Ghostbusters, 2016)

The moment it was announced that instead of Ghostbusters 3, we were getting a rebooted film with an all-female team there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. Never mind that much of the original cast would have been less than convincing at their ages…never mind that in the time it would have taken to get made Harold Ramos passed…and the original cast without Egon would feel off. But what really seemed to drive the anger was the notion that this was feminism out of control, trying to take away someone’s toys.

It was never that, mind you. But that did not stop folks from screaming to the hills that this would never be a good film. Throw in the severely low Youtube rating for the trailer (which is suspicious as the trailer fared much better pretty much everywhere else) and you had an overflow that made people skeptical.

What we have received from Director Paul Feig and his cast is a pretty funny film. The team is brought together pretty organically. Erin Gilbert is approached by a man hoping she can help him with a ghost problem. She is a Physics professor at Columbia University and has hoped noone ever discovers a book she wrote with a friend. She finds out, however, the book is available on Amazon. Going to confront Abby for releasing a book she promised to never release. It does not go as expected and soon (along with Abby’s associate Holtzmann) they are chasing ghosts. They end up hiring dumb as a post Kevin and adding subway worker Patty to their ghost hunting team.

The film is a lot of fun, and strong comedic performances. The film devotes a lot of time to them learning to use their equipment, but often to very funny results. Admittedly, Kate McKinnon steals the show as Holtzmann, often able to inspire laughs with ease and a wink. Hemsworth is almost adorable as the handsome but very stupid Kevin.

I was a bit disappointed that Leslie Jones character Patty was not a scientist after the first trailer, but it turned out okay. And Jones never devolves into racial stereotypes that comedies lean on, such as Loud Black Lady. No, her character is a blue collar worker who finds herself facing the super natural. I enjoyed her performance.

Rounding out the cast, McCarthy and Wiig have good chemistry as a pair of estranged friends. Also, the cast is full of seasoned and talented character actors. The cameos from original cast members are fun and the “fan service” is rarely intrusive.

This film has a different type of villain…a young man who feels walked over and is bitter at the human race. But he is not the only problem. As with the original, they face bureaucratic interference as well. Unlike the original, the Mayor is well aware of the ghosts, just trying to keep it all hidden from the public.

I walked out of the film with a smile, and laughed throughout the film (as did the rest of the audience I was with). This film does not ruin anyone’s childhood. It is not quite as good as the original (though it has far more good roles for women…the original had two major female roles)…but it is far better than Ghostbusters 2. Feig and the cast should be pleased with the product, which overall is effective and funny.

July 24, 2016 0

Feel Something (The Fundamentals of Caring, 2016)

The film opens with the laughter of a child, both endearing and mysterious. We meet Ben (Paul Rudd) who is going through a rough patch. What little we know is that his wife wants a divorce and he is now seeking work as a caregiver. Quiet and seeming lost, he applies to work with Trevor (Craig Roberts), a young man with a form of Muscular Dystrophy. He is caustic with a dark sense of humor. But he picks Ben to be his caregiver. Ben and Trevor have an evening where they spar angrily, Ben upset with Trevor’s games. When he starts to apologize to Trevor’s mother, she reveals that Trevor asked about a road trip with Ben. At first, Elsa (Jennifer Ehle) is certain her son should not go. But she relents, and that is when both Ben and Trevor find their lives altered.

This is not an original tale, and there are many a road story following people learning important lessons. And yet, I found the film worked quite well. Paul Rudd is charming as always, and Craig Roberts gives a rough edge while still being likable as Trevor. Selena Gomez’s Dot is a likable (foul mouthed) performance. The film is the story of wounded people finding they cannot be fixed by each other…but they can forge a path of healing together. Mainly through passing standing up.

The film manages plenty of humor and is heartfelt. Rudd’s Ben has been dealing with tremendous heartbreak and his relationships with Trevor, Dot and Peaches (picked up later in their trip, played by Megan Ferguson) are unintentionally redemptive. I confess, I can be more than a bit of a sap. That can color a film for me. I enjoyed the performances and storytelling. Along with that, the film has an effective alternative folk soundtrack featuring mainly indie artists.

All in all, I found The Fundamentals of Caring to be an emotionally satisfying watch with uplifting performances.

July 11, 2016 0

Housing Problems (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, 2016)

I have to be upfront here. I did not enjoy Neighbors. I thought it was just a random set of sketch ideas, most of which were not super funny. I don’t have strong opinions on Efron and really, sometimes I like Rogen, sometimes I tire of his gimmick early.

So, honestly, I thought I would sit Neighbors 2 out. But I ended up checking it out when someone suggested that the film might have something more going on than the previous outing. And Neighbors 2 does. It actually has a story, and characters I liked. We are quickly re-introduced to Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) who find out their life is about to get a big change. Then we see what the frat boys Teddy (Zac Efron) and Pete (Dave Franco). They two are facing a life changing event… Pete’s boyfriend proposes, and then they suggest Teddy move out.

At the same time we meet Shelby (Chloë Grace Moretz), Beth (Kiersey Clemons) and Nora (Beanie Feldstein). The three girls were pledging the Phi Lamda Sorority. They are disappointed to discover that sororities cannot have their own parties. And when the girls go to a frat party, they find it all very creepy and off-putting. So they set out to start their own off campus sorority. They end up renting the house next to Mac and Kelly, with help from Teddy. Mac and Kelly were planning to sell their home, but it is in escrow for thirty days. And then the mayhem begins, as they worry the new buyers will back out when they see a busy sorority next door.

As the situation escalates, both sides take more and more risks, with mostly funny results. This part seems pretty much like a repeat of the last film. Except, the difference here is that you can actually sympathize with everyone in the film. You know exactly what worries Mac and Kelly…you also can see what is compelling the sorority girls. They want to create a sorority that is able t have it’s own parties, sans date rape drugs, attempts to bed them or get them generally naked. The film indicts the frat culture as one less than friendly to women, and these young women are making a stand.

Truthfully, this is Efron’s movie, as he steals the scene almost every time. As much as the film codes Teddy as being real dumb, he shows himself to be smart and helpful when he feels appreciated and wanted. He wants to connect with people, whether it is his best friend Pete, Mac and Kelly or the Sorority. And he also learns. When he is talking with Shelby , Beth and Nora early in the film, he asks why they do not pledge an existing sorority. They explain how they cannot throw their own parties, but instead must go to frat parties. Teddy does not see the problem. The girls offer up the rapey nature of the parties. They cite how every theme incorporated women as “Ho’s”. Teddy defends frat parties at first…but as he starts naming their themes he pauses…and then is horrified at just how disrespectful their parties were. Teddy listens to people. He takes them seriously and he learns from people.

The story ultimately celebrates relationships. When the Sorority tries to sabotage Mac and Kelly’s marriage by sending them each messages that the other is freaking out about the marriage. But both Kelly and Mac have, as their first instinct, to seek each other to talk it out.

The jokes in the film are effective, I laughed out loud often throughout the film. But the jokes serve the story far better than they did in the first film. This is the rare comedy I can think of where I enjoyed the sequel more than the original. A lot of that is the way the story unfolds. The film has a lot of raunchy and gross out humor, so if you really dislike that type of humor, this may not be the film for you. But I found it all very effective and I was engaged by the film.

May 29, 2016 0

Baked Goods Part 8 (American Reunion, 2012)

And the franchise came full circle with the first theatrical release since American Wedding. Overseen by director Jon Hurwitz, (director of Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay), American Reunion completely ignores the films that came after American Wedding. This was, of course a wise decision. Also wise? Centering the film around a class reunion. This keeps from having to come up with weird plot devices as to why everyone would be located in the same area.

And they brought everyone back for this round. Granted, in some cases it is a blip and you miss it moment (such as Natasha Lyonne’s character Jessica). The film introduces us to Jim and Michelle’s life as parents, with a scene reminiscent of the first film’s opening sequence…except this time around, it is being caught by the kids. Truthfully, this scene does not fully work. I get they are setting up that their relationship is strained. But I think they might have been better to set this scene up with the couple trying to have together time that they sorely miss. Most parents have tales of the kids walking in on intimate moments and there is all sorts of ways to play that.

However, Biggs and Hannigan really work well together. We also meet Kevin, who is now a happily married father and house husband (for the most part). Oz is now a successful sport-caster on a sports network and Finch is appearing the wandering soul he has always tried to be. Stifler (with no acknowledgement of his supposed Girls Gone Wild career in Band Camp) is now working as a temp for a Geek who has made it big. Apparently his biggest nightmare. Tara Reid returns as Vicky, who causes Kevin to question the could have beens. Heather and Oz are no longer together and their story line focuses on the re-kindling of their relationship.

The cast remains likable in the film, especially when they get to channel the qualities that made them sympathetic.

The film focuses on marriages/relationships in trouble and questioning where people find themselves years after high school and the disappointment they may feel. Some of this actually works well in the film. Jim and Michelle are struggling to make it work, and Jim’s dad is struggling with being a widower. Jim shows a lot of his dad’s heart, even in scenes where things are starting to fall apart. Jim has an opportunity, but really walking out on Michelle or cheating on her are not true options for him. Oz and Kevin deal with temptations against their relationships. Oz keeps thinking his girlfriend (played by Katrina Bowden) is cheating on him, due to him finding her in many compromising situations. But, of course, his heart yearns for Heather.

This is a fairly decent return to form for the franchise. American Reunion has welcome laughs and heart. The ongoing story line of Stifler’s mom is actually resolved in an unexpected way that works nicely. It does not abandon it’s gross out humor, but it is not so overwhelming as to becoming off-putting. If you enjoyed American Pie and American Wedding, this is a decently enjoyable enough follow up.

March 17, 2016 2