Vladmir Rakhmanin
Staff Writer
The summer is here. Because of exams, though, it is quite possible that you missed out on some of the first releases of the blockbuster season. Fortunately, I am here to bring you up to speed, and hopefully help you decide what’s worth seeing and what’s not, with reviews of American Reunion, The Cabin in the Woods, and Avengers Assemble.
American Reunion
The American Pie franchise has been on shaky ground ever since the original trilogy ended – various half-baked direct-to-DVD sequels were derided by critics and fans alike. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the series’ trademark raunchy humour had become stale with repetition – perhaps it’s the fact that the abandonment of the old characters, which we had grown to love, led to a loss of charm. Thankfully, American Reunion manages to fix most of those problems, and delivers a fairly solid entry into the franchise, rewarding old-time fans.
As the name suggests, the film chronicles the high school reunion of the main characters of the original Pie trilogy – and seeing the gang again genuinely feels like reuniting with old friends. This is the film’s strongest aspect – while all the sexual misadventures and comedic set-pieces are present, as expected, the sense of nostalgia makes the film feel a step higher than other entries in the genre. The number of cameos and references is staggering, meaning that fans of the franchise will gain huge enjoyment out of seeing how everyone is getting on. My personal favourite moment comes out of witnessing Stifler finally get his revenge against Finch.
Unfortunately, this sense of nostalgia also manages to be the film’s crippling flaw. Unfortunately, those without previous knowledge of the franchise are unlikely to understand a lot of the jokes, as the film makes no effort to bring newcomers up to speed. The various set-pieces that I have mentioned, such as the gang attempting to smuggle a drunk girl back to her parents’ house without them knowing, are well executed and pretty amusing in their own right, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.
To sum up, if you’re a fan, you’re going to have a great time – if you’re a Pie virgin, however, then you’re going to be straining to understand why your friends are laughing so hard.
The Cabin in the Woods
I’ll get this out of the way now – The Cabin in the Woods is a horror fan’s wet dream. Each new scene had me in fits of excitement as I discovered references to obscure genre classics that I thought only I had seen; laughing a little too hard at the genuinely hilarious script; and even thinking a little deeper about the true nature of the story being told here. Not only that, I can say in absolute certainty that this is the most creative – hell, maybe even the best – western horror film to be released over the past decade.
To prepare yourself for a viewing of this film ignore all trailers and reviews. This is absolutely crucial. Because the main twist is given away in the opening five minutes, many critics have deemed it acceptable to describe this plot point in detail. I can understand why – the film is a tough sell when you just look at the surface. It’s just about a bunch of teenagers who go to a cabin in the woods, right? What’s so creative about that? Unfortunately, for full effect, you can’t know of the main secret, as discovering it is part of the fun. You’re just going to have to take my word for it that this is the greatest meta deconstruction of a genre since Scream. Even once you think you’ve figured out what’s going on, the film throws at you a scene which is one of the best climaxes in horror. You’ll never look at a unicorn the same way again.
Unfortunately, the film ends being a little too ambitious for its own good. The denouement falls a little flat, as certain key plot points aren’t fully fleshed out, also I felt that the filmmakers could have gone even further with the fourth-wall breaking. This doesn’t stop this from being a magnificent horror-comedy, though, one that will most certainly gather a cult following over the next few years.
Avengers Assemble
I don’t think this one needs any explaining. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past several years, you would know that this is a crossover between the major Marvel films – these include Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and its sequel, and The Incredible Hulk. With a set up like that I was expecting a lot from the film – and fortunately, for the most part, it delivered.
The film has a suitably epic feel, and is split tonally into three parts, allowing for the scope of a trilogy compressed into one film – the opening being optimistic, to do with team assembly, the middle feeling a lot darker, with the majority of the character development occurring, and the ending being a mind-blowing climax that’s such a spectacle that I won’t even hint at the details.
While this is no Dark Knight, Avengers Assemble takes the blockbuster template and pushes it further than any Marvel film had done to date. It is really surprisingly intelligent, considering all that was required was for our favourite super-heroes to beat aliens to a pulp. There are some dark moments that really make you truly understand how flawed the characters are, and how their ego clashes make working in the team almost impossible.
These clashes are another merit of the film – because the characters have been set up appropriately in all the previous films, the script doesn’t need to introduce anyone in detail, and we get straight to the witty banter. All the heroes get suitable screen time, and all of them interact with each other with hilarious results. My personal favourite match-up was between straight-ace Captain America and bad-boy Iron Man. Truly funny stuff.
There are some flaws to the film, however. Loki is a weak villain, in my opinion, and his character design isn’t as extravagant as some of the past baddies that we’ve had (Red Skull, for example). Also, while Black Widow may be an interesting female contribution to the cast, I feel like her abilities are a little dull when compared to the rest of the team.
Even so, Avengers Assemble is a brilliant, intelligent blockbuster summer film. Even if you’re not a comic book fan, you will still enjoy the pulpy action, especially the chaos that occurs towards the end. A small tip, though – make sure to stay after the credits, as you’ll get a small hint at the villain of the inevitable sequel. If it’s anywhere near as good as the original, the wait will be worth it.
