Review: American Pie: Band Camp


After trashing the high school graduation ceremony, Matt Stifler (Tad Hilgenbrink) is sent to guidance counsellor Chuck ‘Sherminator’ Sherman (Chris Owen). The Sherminator sentences him to band camp for the summer. Forever living in his uber-prankster brother’s shadow, Matt doesn’t take the punishment very seriously and instead plans on investigating the rumours of band geek raunchiness (remember Jim’s wife Michelle? Well, forget her, she’s barely mentioned here), hoping to tape lascivious behaviour for a ‘Band Geeks Gone Wild’ video. Arielle Kebbel (who just makes you want to hug her) is the pretty band leader who has endured Matt’s immature taunting since Grade School and won’t allow him to ruin the school’s chances of winning the band camp competition (allowing her to get a music scholarship). Jason Earles is Stifler Jr.’s geeky robot-obsessed (umm, what decade are we in?) roommate, who has the hots for a tattooed tuba player (The porno-named Crystle Lightning, who looks about five years older than everyone else). Former porn star and B-movie veteran Ginger Lynn Allen plays the tough nurse (and still looks great), Tim Stack turns up as a counsellor (hasn’t he played counsellors in like five movies or something?), and Eugene Levy turns up for an obligatory appearance as Jim’s dad, replacing pregnant Michelle as the camp conflict resolver (or something like that).

 

When The Sherminator and Jim’s Dad are the only returning cast members, you know you’re in trouble. This lame 2005 direct-to-DVD sequel from Steve Rash (From “The Buddy Holly Story” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” to “Under the Rainbow” and “Eddie”) comedy borrows material from every frat-house/teen sex comedy of the late 70s and early 80s, but forgets to make any of it funny. Having the obnoxious younger brother (Hilgenbrink) of uber-obnoxious Steve Stifler as the lead character doesn’t help, though Hilgenbrink does a fair Seann William Scott impersonation. Hell, it even skimps on the T&A, for cryin’ out loud. Why bother?

 

Levy provides one or two giggles, but not many more. In the end it’s up to the absolutely adorable Kebbel and tattooed babe Lightning to provide any (modest) enjoyment. It’s acceptable at best, and that’s probably all one should expect from the fourth film in a comedy series (It could be worse. Remember “Revenge of the Nerds 4: Nerds in Love”, or “Meatballs 4”- the Corey Feldman one? Personally I think the best title in this category is “Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol”, for my money, the best film in that entire series).

 

Rating: C

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