'American Reunion' teaser is picture perfect

Posted Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 3:28 PM Central

by John Couture

It's funny that just the other day I complained about teaser trailers and how the teaser for The Hunger Games probably did more harm than good for the movie. And yet, today, my faith in teaser trailers is restored thanks to American Reunion of all movies.

The challenge in creating a teaser trailer for American Reunion is that you have a franchise that people thoroughly enjoyed and then came to downright despise thanks to Universal's strategy of releasing 85 direct-to-video sequels that weren't even tangentially connected to the three main films.

OK, it wasn't 85, but it sure felt like it, didn't it? So, the challenge is how do you go to the well again and win over those people who were turned off by Universal's sequel madness?

The answer as you see below is poetically beautiful and so brilliantly simple that if they handed out an Oscar for teaser trailers, the race would officially be over. The "trailer" is nothing more than a montage of photo booth pictures of the cast horsing around for the camera while "Laid" from James plays in the background.

A reunion is all about nostalgia and going back to an earlier time and reliving the good memories and forgetting the bad. "Laid" was used extensively in the marketing for American Wedding, the last film of the franchise to feature most of the original cast.

The vibe takes you back to an earlier, more innocent time. A time before Jim had his infamous encounter with that pie and we smile knowing that just like pulling on our favorite pair of pants, American Reunion is going to fit us like a glove and make us happy.

American Reunion hits theaters on April 6, 2012 and this is one reunion that we're actually looking forward to attending.