American Reunion Directed by: Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg Starring: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: April 6, 2012
TRAILER SCORE: 7/10
Thoughts by TSR: I get what they are trying to do here. They are saying, “Hey look! Remember all these wacky characters you love? Well, they’re baaaaaack!” And to a certain degree, it works. I don’t hold these films – I’m strictly talking the three that went to theaters, not the multiple direct-to-video releases – in particularly high regard, but they are enjoyable. Seeing the gang – or most of it, at least - back together in this nostalgia fueled teaser is sort of fun.
The idea for American Reunion is a pretty wise one. It’s obvious, but in movies like this it is important to nail the easy stuff. Instead of bending over backwards and coming up with some unbelievable way to get all these folks back together, the writing/directing pair of Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (of Harold and Kumar fame) simply made the film their high school reunion. That is a good place to start, and will hopefully lead to some good humor.
Pretty much all of the original cast is returning. That’s not entirely surprising since their careers haven’t exactly taken off (other than maybe Alyson Hannigan who has a good thing going on “How I Met Your Mother” and Seann William Scott who has done alright for himself), but it is nice that they managed to actually stage a reunion. Most of them are featured in these photos, but a few notable cast members are nowhere to be found. Well, fear not Shannon Elizabeth and Natasha Lyonne fans; they will be in the movie. Yes, we can all rest a little bit easier now.
The teaser doesn’t show any new footage, instead opting to crank the nostalgia dial up to eleven. It works insofar as I was smiling and thinking about the previous films. Even though I wouldn’t have minded seeing some new footage and getting a sense of how these characters have grown – or, not grown – since we last saw them, the teaser achieves what it set out to do. Though, it certainly could have used some Chris Owen as “The Sherminator” and Jon Cho as “MILF Guy #2.” But isn't that true of everything in life? Yes, yes it is.