Peter Lynn
Why It Was Made
Evidently somebody at Universal felt that Alyson Hannigan's "This one time at Band Camp "¦" joke from the original Pie had enough depth and purpose to be developed into a feature-length movie.
It's a wonder why more coming-of-age films don't do this. For instance, one of the characters in Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants tells a story about her mom making a pizza once. The logical consequence would be a direct-to-video sequel called Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2: All Dressed, in which an entirely new cast of girls playing the younger sisters of the original characters open a pizzeria with the help of Bradley Whitford, reprising his father role from the first movie. The result would be unwatchable, of course, but that hardly seems to be the point of these things.
What It Adds To The American Pie Film Canon
This one time at Band Camp? A lot of actors you've never heard of did a lot of obvious gross-out comedy? And Eugene Levy got paid to sleepwalk through a performance as the band camp's conflict resolution officer!
Tad Hilgenbrink takes over the role of Matt Stifler, younger brother of Steve Stifler from the original films and the vanguard of a wave of heretofore unmentioned Stifler brothers appearing in subsequent direct-to-video sequels full of feces-eating and sex gags. You'd think someone as talented as Eugene Levy would have something better to do than find increasingly implausible reasons to anchor each of the direct-to-video American Pie sequels. It's clear from his constant appearances in the Pie movies (and the equally unnecessary Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd) that he either doesn't have enough hobbies or owes someone dangerous a lot of money.
With a second direct-to-DVD sequel already on shelves (American Pie: The Naked Mile) and a third currently wrapping up production (American Pie Presents: Beta House), it's a little unsettling to realize that there are now as many Pie films as Star Wars films. It boggles the mind to imagine an American Pie Expanded Universe or MMORG or regrettable holiday special, though admittedly intriguing to consider an Alyson Hannigan action figure, where much as with Luke's light saber, flicking a plastic tab slides a little flute in and out of her nether regions.
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