Seriously, I don't know if it's the fact I'm seen these movies in chronological order once again, and that due to the quality of the first three spin-offs plus this movie's grade here, my expectations couldn't be lower than they were, but I thought this was pretty decent! I truly think this is by a mile the best spin-off in the series, and I'll tell you why.
First, the characters, from good to bad, I truly thought Bug Hall did a good job here, he's good in the role, he's loud and funny when he needs to be, and honestly, I think he gives the best performance and has the most charisma of all the protagonists in the spin offs (you could probably argue for Tad Hilgenbrink in Band Camp, but the movie is so bad I can't even consider that...). I think Brandon Hardesty is... fine, I think he's "character arc" is kind of stupid, but still, he's doing ok with what he has. From the main characters, I truly just didn't like Nathan, I thought Kevin M. Horton was really bad in it, and well, we've seen this whole "girlfriend doesn't want to have sex" situation at least what? Twice in the series?
The girls are once again, there to be gorgeous, and talk about man, but AT LEAST, this time I thought most of them were actually acting just fine, Beth Behrs is probably the most successful in the whole cast, so I don't even have to talk about her (she's great), but even Jennifer Holland and Melanie Papalia I thought were good with what they had.
The new Stifler tho... my God, he's by far the worst one, he has no charisma, and he manages to be more of a impersonation of Seann William Scott than Matt was in Band Camp... and he's doing horribly in that too (his scene naked and been raped in the snow isn't funny at all as well). Anyways, he's probably my least favorite part of the entire film. Bad performance, bad character.
However, tho, I think the movie is for the most part pretty decent. As I said, it has a fine protagonist, and imo, it tries to bring something different to the series, besides repeating the same beats over and over again. Sure, it repeats beats (like the sex with a weird think), but it does some cool new beats, like the scene in the lingerie store, you start like "wait, that's too easy... oh, ok, I see". And the "come again" line is priceless. Even the Book of Love, I like how they came back to a small thing in the first film and explore it, and it was actually a fair argument to bring Eugene Levy back this time around (it actually makes sense!).
And you could say "wasn't that what they did int Band Camp?" and well... no it was not. In Band Camp they spend the whole film referencing stuff that happened before, bring us to a whole familiar scenario, but here, they just take an element from the first film, and give it a true back story (they don't even mentioned Kevin, and him having the book, we can just see small easter eggs).
Idk, the movie just feels more like a separated thing for most of it (besides all the Stifler stuff, for example), even the cinematography and direction I thought were way better than in the previous three. It doesn't feel like a made for TV film. Meaning it isn't cheap looking (like I feel the other three were).
Just to point out, some scenes I thought were truly funny and clever: The church scene is probably my favorite scene in the entire movie, it's such a clever bit, first with all those things they were talking to the mic while everyone was listening, and then the priest just cursing at the end, cause well... who gives a fu%$ right lol. The sex with the elderly woman is also funny, even tho is kind of gross, is one of the examples of "kind of doing the same bit, but innovating a little too", and it works.
And, of course, every scene Eugene Levy is in, is great.
It's also relevant to point out (I guess) that this movie kind of comes back to the nudity aspect the first three movies had, instead of been like Naked Mile or Beta House for example, and showing boobs for the sake of... well, showing boobs, it show us boobs, but it always seems like it makes sense, the nudity is kind of "earned" in a weird sense, idk if that makes sense.
Finally, I thought the soundtrack was good, I liked how they mixed new songs, and some old songs from the original movie in there, it fits well with the flow of the movie.
To sum up, I thought "American Pie Presents: The Book of Love" was a good movie, and it's definitely the best one in the spin off series, it manages to capture some of the feel from the original movies, and sure, it has some bad acting (like all the spin offs have), and some elements that could have been way better, however, the movie just feels to me like it's own think, it has its own voice, and isn't reeling on the original movies to work, reminding us every 5 minutes we are watching an American Pie movie. It's far from been perfect, but with a good performance from the lead actor, some really funny sequences, Eugene Levy, a good soundtrack, and just 93 minutes, it's far from been a bad movie either (I can't never complain about the boobs also, sue me).
6,5/10
First, the characters, from good to bad, I truly thought Bug Hall did a good job here, he's good in the role, he's loud and funny when he needs to be, and honestly, I think he gives the best performance and has the most charisma of all the protagonists in the spin offs (you could probably argue for Tad Hilgenbrink in Band Camp, but the movie is so bad I can't even consider that...). I think Brandon Hardesty is... fine, I think he's "character arc" is kind of stupid, but still, he's doing ok with what he has. From the main characters, I truly just didn't like Nathan, I thought Kevin M. Horton was really bad in it, and well, we've seen this whole "girlfriend doesn't want to have sex" situation at least what? Twice in the series?
The girls are once again, there to be gorgeous, and talk about man, but AT LEAST, this time I thought most of them were actually acting just fine, Beth Behrs is probably the most successful in the whole cast, so I don't even have to talk about her (she's great), but even Jennifer Holland and Melanie Papalia I thought were good with what they had.
The new Stifler tho... my God, he's by far the worst one, he has no charisma, and he manages to be more of a impersonation of Seann William Scott than Matt was in Band Camp... and he's doing horribly in that too (his scene naked and been raped in the snow isn't funny at all as well). Anyways, he's probably my least favorite part of the entire film. Bad performance, bad character.
However, tho, I think the movie is for the most part pretty decent. As I said, it has a fine protagonist, and imo, it tries to bring something different to the series, besides repeating the same beats over and over again. Sure, it repeats beats (like the sex with a weird think), but it does some cool new beats, like the scene in the lingerie store, you start like "wait, that's too easy... oh, ok, I see". And the "come again" line is priceless. Even the Book of Love, I like how they came back to a small thing in the first film and explore it, and it was actually a fair argument to bring Eugene Levy back this time around (it actually makes sense!).
And you could say "wasn't that what they did int Band Camp?" and well... no it was not. In Band Camp they spend the whole film referencing stuff that happened before, bring us to a whole familiar scenario, but here, they just take an element from the first film, and give it a true back story (they don't even mentioned Kevin, and him having the book, we can just see small easter eggs).
Idk, the movie just feels more like a separated thing for most of it (besides all the Stifler stuff, for example), even the cinematography and direction I thought were way better than in the previous three. It doesn't feel like a made for TV film. Meaning it isn't cheap looking (like I feel the other three were).
Just to point out, some scenes I thought were truly funny and clever: The church scene is probably my favorite scene in the entire movie, it's such a clever bit, first with all those things they were talking to the mic while everyone was listening, and then the priest just cursing at the end, cause well... who gives a fu%$ right lol. The sex with the elderly woman is also funny, even tho is kind of gross, is one of the examples of "kind of doing the same bit, but innovating a little too", and it works.
And, of course, every scene Eugene Levy is in, is great.
It's also relevant to point out (I guess) that this movie kind of comes back to the nudity aspect the first three movies had, instead of been like Naked Mile or Beta House for example, and showing boobs for the sake of... well, showing boobs, it show us boobs, but it always seems like it makes sense, the nudity is kind of "earned" in a weird sense, idk if that makes sense.
Finally, I thought the soundtrack was good, I liked how they mixed new songs, and some old songs from the original movie in there, it fits well with the flow of the movie.
To sum up, I thought "American Pie Presents: The Book of Love" was a good movie, and it's definitely the best one in the spin off series, it manages to capture some of the feel from the original movies, and sure, it has some bad acting (like all the spin offs have), and some elements that could have been way better, however, the movie just feels to me like it's own think, it has its own voice, and isn't reeling on the original movies to work, reminding us every 5 minutes we are watching an American Pie movie. It's far from been perfect, but with a good performance from the lead actor, some really funny sequences, Eugene Levy, a good soundtrack, and just 93 minutes, it's far from been a bad movie either (I can't never complain about the boobs also, sue me).
6,5/10