Wet Hot American Summer Reviews

Initial Thought: I just finished watched the Netflix prequel series. I figured I would see how they whole thing came to be. The series was pretty off the wall with it's humor. The way everything came to be as everyone knows it is pretty hilarious. A lot of the plot was so nonsensical that it was actually amusing to watch. That being the case I wanted to see how everything turned out and if the humor was about the same or not.

Characters/Acting: Many of the actors here were also in the series with a few alterations from both. There are also a few actors with very small roles who play in both productions. Some of the characters are slightly different with the way they act or do things. My favorite characters from the series as well as this movie are definitely Andy (Paul Rudd) and Gene (Christopher Meloni). It was pretty funny to see some of the kids acting more mature than the characters played by the older actors. I thought everyone pulled off the teenager act quite well for a comedy.

Story: Set on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, a group of counselors try to complete their unfinished business before the day ends. It starts off fairly similar to the way the series ends. I liked that bit of continuity for the series. It doesn't seem to coincide with a few of the explanations or scenarios from the series though. It has some pretty amusing moments throughout like when a few of the "teens" go out to town. I like how everything tends to be different than what is expected. The ending was pretty good and silly. Make sure to watch after the credits for an additional scene.

Directing/Writing: I haven't seen anything Michael Showalter has written other than the prequel series for this. As for David Wain I have seen Role Models and Wanderlust. In my opinion both were pretty enjoyable. My favorite of the two was definitely Role Models. I'm sure with the entertaining series I just watched and the two films by Wain I assume I will be enjoying this.

Final Thought: This is all kinds of off the wall. It's utter nonsense and that's pretty much what charms you here. It's basically a parody of summer camp films and the constant casting of exceptionally older actors playing very young characters. It definitely screams cult classic which it is. If you haven't watched this or the series yet and like oddball humor you will enjoy this. If you are a stickler about your jokes you might not.

A star-studded cast (surprisingly!) for this silly entrant in the summer camp genre. This was the second retro 80's themed movie I watched in 24 hours (the other Hot Tub Time Machine) so that might affect my review. This one didn't seem as retro- perhaps because it came out barely a decade after the 80's. Som of the hyperbolic characters worked well (like Paul Rudd's scornful resident hottie counselor/life guard), but others (like Molly Shannon's twice divorced craft counselor) lacked believability, and really, humor. Did people really always wear shorts that tight?