American Pie 2

Directed by J.B. Rogers, American Pie 2 follows Jason Biggs’ Jim as he and his friends get into a series of wacky misadventures during their summer break from college. Filmmaker Rogers, working from a script by Adam Herz, delivers a relentlessly hit-and-miss sequel that never becomes as consistently entertaining as one might’ve hoped, as the movie suffers from a decidedly (and aggressively) episodic narrative that stresses individual comic set-pieces over forward momentum – which ensures that the picture, while quite amusing at times, remains woefully uninvolving for the duration of its (overlong) running time. It’s clear, then, that American Pie 2‘s mostly watchable vibe stems from the charismatic performances of its myriad of cast members, as well as its recurring emphasis on admittedly laugh-out-loud funny bits and digressions – with this particularly true of a gleefully disgusting interlude wherein Seann William Scott’s Stifler mistakenly drinks urine. By the time the fine-yet-unspectacular climax rolls around, however, American Pie 2 has cemented its place as a decent-enough followup that does little to advance the viewer’s understanding of the various protagonists (ie it’s abundantly clear that the goal was laughs over character development).

** out of ****