American Pie 2 2001

Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News: It has all the essential ingredients -- same writer, same cast, same suburban Michigan setting -- but it's sour now, with the texture of soggy cardboard. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Sorry, kids; this levee is dry. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: It has a cheap, slapdash look that indicates no one behind the camera was interested in anything other than another fat payday. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Just another by-the-numbers, money-hungry sequel with a lot of recycled shaggy-sex jokes and gross-out gags. Read more

Ebert & Roeper: Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: It's a pleasant enough escape, albeit a short-lived and disposable one. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: To fill its depleted reservoir of jokes, Adam Herz's new script frequently tries to generate laughs simply by mentioning something from his old one. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: The American Pie take on teenage sexuality is far more leering and prurient in its banana-peel fashion than the in-your-face voyeurism of Larry Clark's Bully. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: No real premise, no new jokes, no new characters and still no plot line for poor Natasha Lyonne. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Still seems fresh, despite using the same ingredients of the first one. Read more

Bob Longino, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Most of the time, AP2 features a flat screenplay ... stilted cinematography and only a few good jokes. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A copy all the way, a disheartening attempt to capitalize on the success of the original. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: Unlike most such sex comedies, it's not mean-spirited. Instead, like the original, it's an odd mix of ribaldry and innocence, titillation and tenderness, lasciviousness and love. Read more

Paul Tatara, CNN.com: The entire movie plays like a fifth-rate burlesque show sprinkled with indiscreet product placement. Read more

Asher Price, Denver Post: The main characters are further developed ... and just as endearing as the first incarnation. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: All the family values remain intact, held fast with a substance even stronger than superglue: Nostalgia for sexual innocence past. Read more

Jason Anderson, Globe and Mail: Hollywood may treat us comedy fans like we're idiots, but we know a good super-glue joke when we see it. Read more

Ernest Hardy, L.A. Weekly: Had director J.B. Rogers simply stuck to the sex jokes and not tried to redeem them, he'd have made a more honest film. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Exists exclusively because its forerunner made a lot of money -- and the lack of inspiration behind the movie shows in every frame. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I had a good time at American Pie 2, maybe because the characters are broad comic types, well played; the movie feels some sympathy for their dilemmas, and because it's obsessed with sex. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Here, the jokes are their own feeble reason for being; some are mildly funny, but most just fall flat with a dull clunk. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: With its mix of lewd jokes, sentimentalized characters and fake emotion, American Pie 2 has less in common with its predecessor and everything in common with every other bad comedy ever made about randy young men. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Read more

Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today: This second slice just isn't as deliciously naughty as the original piece. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: Less a movie than another efficient moneymaking machine for Universal Pictures, American Pie 2 is a remarkably boring comedy. Read more

Mark Holcomb, Village Voice: Rogers's feeble attempt to ape the Farrellys' gross/sad/funny dialectic falls flat. Read more