After American Pie became so successful, it wasn’t surprising when a sequel was made.  Since I enjoyed the first movie, I decided to go see American Pie 2 after it was released.

I will be mentioning a few things when discussing American Pie 2 that will be spoilers for people who haven’t seen American Pie.  Anyone that still wants to see the first movie should read this review with caution.

At the end of his freshman year of college, Jim is still having trouble with sex.  He attempts to have goodbye sex with a girl even though they never had hello sex.  Unfortunately for Jim, they are interrupted when his dad walks into the room followed by his mother.  Things get even worse when the girl’s parents walk into the room.  Oz and Heather are still together and facing spending summer apart since she is going to Europe to study.  Kevin is having trouble accepting that he and Vicky broke up even though it has been a year.  Finch did well with women while at college, but he is still hung up on Stifler’s mom.  Stifler is the same, always chasing after every woman he sees.

Once they are back home, Stifler throws a wild party that is shut down by the police fairly quick.  The guys are having some trouble adjusting.  Kevin gets the idea for them to rent a house by the lake for the summer around the same time that Jim gets a call from Nadia.  She is coming to see him at the end of the summer because she really likes him.  Jim is nervous because he’s worried that he is horrible at sex.  The guys head for the house, along with Stifler who is still ticked at Finch because of the incident with his mother, and get jobs painting houses.  They all have some issues to deal with.  Jim decides to talk to Michelle to find out if he was bad in bed.  He tracks her down at band camp where she is a counselor and she agrees to help him prepare for Nadia’s visit. 

The plot for American Pie 2 isn’t complicated in any way even though there is a lot going on.  Most of it is just about the five guys trying to enjoy their summer vacation.  The movie has a different plot than the first movie, but there are still connections.  Certain things were more original than what happened in the first movie, while other things were rather unoriginal and predictable.  The movie could stand alone, though some things won’t make as much sense for people who haven’t already seen the first movie. 

American Pie 2 begins by showing Jim’s attempt to have sex with a girl at his college.  His horrible sexual luck continues, which helps to set up some of what will be going on during the movie.  The other guys are introduced again and it isn’t long before Kevin decides that they should rent a house at the lake for the summer. The rest of the movie takes place during their time at the lake house.  Probably the most time is devoted to Jim and how he goes to Michelle for help in preparing for Nadia’s visit.  The other guys are of course involved in some stuff, but not as much attention is given to them.  Even though there really isn’t a lot going on, the movie is still fun and entertaining overall.

The same type of humor that was used in the first movie returns for American Pie 2.  At the very least, several things done for humor are silly.  Much of the humor is crude and raunchy, so it definitely won’t appeal to everyone.  Even some of the funny things seem to parallel things done in the first movie while taking them to a new level of crudeness.  One or two things, like what happens to Stifler during his party early in the movie, are very disgusting, though there is also humor in the situations.  Jim’s attempts at sex and even masturbation go wrong in unexpected or even bizarre ways that are very funny.  Some things done for humor could offend some viewers.

American Pie 2 is full of sexual situations, much like the first movie was.  The first scene deals with Jim attempting to have sex with a girl at college.  There isn’t any actual nudity in the scene, though a lot of skin is shown and it is made very clear what is going on.   Just when it seems things are starting to go right for them, Jim’s dad walks in the room.  That is somewhat like when Jim’s parents walked in when he was trying to masturbate to scrambled porn in the first movie.  Really most of the sexual mishaps involve Jim in someway.  Oz is happily committed to Heather, though the two do attempt phone sex.  Finch is mainly just studying Tantra and hoping for another time with Stifler’s mom.  Jim has a huge mishap when he decides to masturbate while watching a porn movie.  He wasn’t as careful as he should have been, and he ends up using some kind of super glue instead of the lubricant and he glues himself to himself.  That results in more embarrassment for Jim when he is discovered, though it is funny.  Jim tries to deal with the situation himself, and some effective sound effects are used that may inspire some cringing in some viewers. 

Another sexual situation ends up involving all the guys in one way or another.  Stifler decides that the woman living in the house they are painting are lesbians.  He gets all worked up about that and finds it very arousing even though if he was right it would mean they wouldn’t be interested in him.  Anyway, when the women leave one day, he runs into the house to look for what he calls lesbian artifacts and he is oddly excited when he discovers a sex toy, running through the house waving the thing around while Finch and Jim try to get him to put it back.  The three of them are forced to hide when the women come home early.  They are discovered and what happens after that causes Stifler, Jim, and Finch to get way closer than any of them ever wanted.  The women do get topless during that scene.  All of the nudity in the movie involves women being topless.  The sex scenes aren’t really graphic, though it is made clear what is happening.  There are several sexual situations and discussions that get a little graphic at times.  Those things, along with the profanity caused the movie to be rated R.  Versions of the word that rhymes with luck are used frequently.  This movie is not family friendly at all and no children should see it.

There really isn’t much new development for the characters in American Pie 2.  Jim still doesn’t have much luck with sex, which causes him to freak out a bit when Nadia calls saying she wants to see him at the end of summer.  He is still hung up on Nadia, but he’s worried, so he decides to see Michelle to find out if he was any good at sex when they hooked up after the prom.  Jim does have a tendency to end up in some very embarrassing situations where sex is concerned.  He’s a nice character overall and Jason Biggs does fine with the part.  Jim’s mom and dad each turn up, with his dad having a few more scenes.  Eugene Levy is wonderful in the part, making Jim’s dad very understanding no matter what sort of odd mess Jim is in. 

Michelle, the girl from the band who was always telling stories about band camp that Jim went to the prom with, is back.  She has more sexual experience and she agrees to help Jim prepare for Nadia’s upcoming visit.  Michelle is around in more scenes and ends up with a bit more to do.  Alyson Hannigan is fine in the part, though it is a bit weird to see her play a character like Michelle after seeing her as Willow for so long.  Nadia once again isn’t around much.  She is probably in about as much of this movie as she was the first movie.  Jim feels like she is the one who got away since he really messed up during his one chance with her.  Then Nadia calls saying that she is coming back at the end of summer to see Jim, so she is still interested as well.  Shannon Elizabeth isn’t that special in the part.  She is just sort of there, looking a bit vapid and talking in a horrid accent.  I’m not sure where she is supposed to be from.

Kevin is kind of annoying in this movie with the way he is mooning over Vicky all the time and thinking he can get her back. He didn’t bother me the first time I saw the movies, but I find him annoying now.  He comes up with the idea for the guys to rent the lake house and babbles about them figuring out all sorts of important things about their lives by the end of the summer.  He spends most of his time trying to figure out a way to get Vicky back.  Thomas Ian Nicholas is fine in the part.  Casey Affleck pops up during one short scene as Kevin’s older brother.  Vicky is back in a few scenes, though her part is much smaller.  That makes me happy since I really didn’t like her that much in the first movie.  Tara Reid isn’t anything special in the part.  Jessica, Vicky’s friend, is back in a few scenes to basically just talk about sex.  Natasha Lyonne ends up with basically nothing to do.

Finch says that he had a lot of success with women during his freshman year at college.  He is still hung up on Stifler’s mom and he starts to study Tantra in preparation for what he hopes will be another meeting with her.  Finch does some odd things at times as part of his study of Tantra and he does sort of freak his friends out a few times.  Eddie Kaye Thomas is fine in the part.  Stifler’s mom makes another very short appearance and it seems like she is still interested in Finch.  Jennifer Coolidge is good in the part, though she really didn’t have much to do. 

Oz is dealing with Heather being in Europe for the summer.  I think he actually ends up with the least going on, which makes sense since he has a girlfriend.  He seems to be the most stable of the friends.  Chris Klein is fine in the part, though he doesn’t have much to do.  Heather is barely in the movie since she went off to study in Europe for the summer.  Most of her scenes involve her and Oz talking on the phone for a few minutes.  Mena Suvari didn’t add anything to the movie.  Stifler is just trying to score with as many women as possible, like usual.  He is around a bit more, but he doesn’t act different at all.  He’s basically an obnoxious jerk who sees every attractive woman as a potential sex partner.  Seann William Scott is fine in the part.  A few other characters who were in the first movie, like Sherman and the two wasted guys who call Stifler’s mom a MILF are back briefly as well.

Main Cast

Jason Biggs - Jim
Jennifer Coolidge - Stifler’s Mom
Shannon Elizabeth - Nadia
Alyson Hannigan - Michelle
Chris Klein - Oz
Eugene Levy - Jim’s Dad
Natasha Lyonne - Jessica
Thomas Ian Nicholas - Kevin
Tara Reid - Vicky
Seann William Scott - Stifler
Mena Suvari - Heather
Eddie Kay Thomas - Finch

J. B. Rogers - Director

DVD Information

I first saw American Pie 2 in the theater when it came out.  Since then, I’ve added the DVD to my collection and watched it several more times.  There is a rated and unrated version of the DVD available.  A little bit more is shown in the unrated version.  There is a special on the making of the movie, outtakes, deleted scenes, a music video, screen tests from the first movie, and a few other things focused on certain aspects of the movie.  I haven’t watched all of the extras.  The featurette on the making of the movie is interested and the outtakes were funny.

American Pie 2 is a funny, entertaining movie that fans of the first movie will probably like.  It is definitely not for everyone though because of the crude humor, profanity, and sexual situations that play a huge part in the movie.  People that are offended by those things should avoid this movie.  This is not a movie for children of any age to see.

American Pie ~ American Pie 2 ~ American Wedding ~

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age