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On the other hand, with less money at hand,
no A-lister to divert eyes from a stale script, and a bunch of new
characters that have got to win us over pretty quickly – the scripts
are usually good, because, well, they have to be.
For a lot of these low-budget follow-ups,
the yarn is what will indubitably deter the viewer from rushing to the
stop button.
Like a scattering of chocolate sprinkles
atop your Latte, American Pie: Band Camp is a bit
of a surprise. It’s not as frothy or hot as the first film – the
ultimate '90s teen movie, say most – but side by side with the
theatrically released American Wedding (as weak as
diet cordial in my opinion), it’s unquestionably the better movie.
Band Camp takes us back
to the musical milieu first teased in American Pie 2.
This time it’s not Jim (Jason Biggs) that’s going to hastily try and
learn an instrument to impress a bandie, but Matt Stifler (Tad
Hilgenbrinck), the younger brother of lewd jerk Steve Stifler (Seann
William Scott – and no, he doesn’t make an appearance).
Matt’s been sent to the camp as a form of
punishment (by the school guidance counsellor, ‘The Sherminator’, no
less) and he’s about as welcome there as flies at a barbecue.
Seems the young Stifler is as dirty, sordid
and downright unlikeable as his older brother – and plans to live up to
that repute and make the most out of his band camp experience. With
some nifty video camera equipment (and later, a robot) he sets up
cameras in the girls showers, planning to make a no-holds-barred
‘Bandies Go Wild’ video for his similarly dirty pals back home.
Enter Elyse (Arielle Kebbel), a cute prepish
musician with nothing on her mind but showing the competing bands what
her team’s got. She’s the chalk to Stifler’s cheese, but needless to
say, they discover a mutual admiration for each other - and more, in
turn causing young Stifler to consider changing his ways. But can he?
If there’s one thing that’s holding this
film’s flag up its Tad Hilgenbrinck – he’s brilliant. A DNA test needs
to be conducted, because he seriously looks and acts like Seann William
Scott. The guy’s a dead-ringer, and truth be told, possibly even
funnier than Scott was in the last couple of Pie
flicks.
In addition, the attractive Kebbel gives a
convincing and amiably sweet performance as the endearing Elyse. A
looker with acting talent? As rare as the steak I ate at my
mother-in-law’s last June, I tell ya.
Though most of the support cast are largely
unknowns, there are a couple of familiar faces making appearances –
most notably Eugene Levy, reprising his role as ‘Jim’s Dad’. Pops is
filling in for daughter-in-law Michelle (played by Alyson Hannigan in
the previous films) as a counsellor at the camp, and you can only
imagine the worldly advice he’s giving out. Always a pleasure.
It’s not as funny as seeing a teenage dweeb
do the horizontal joggle with a pastry, but American Pie:
Band Camp is funny, high-spirited and a pleasurable place to
toot your horn at for an hour and a half, and I would be keen to see
the further adventures of Matt Stifler sometime.
DVD Extras
Among the interesting assortment of extras
on the DVD are video diaries from the cast (very candid, quite
amusing), a tour of the set, a music video, a large bunch of deleted
scenes, some droll outtakes, and a voucher for a free back massage by
Ginger Lynn Allen (no, hang on, that was part of the dream).
Conclusion: Movie 70% Extras: 75%
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