{"id":4660,"date":"2017-08-07T14:42:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T19:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/?p=4660"},"modified":"2018-08-20T16:52:46","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T21:52:46","slug":"wet-hot-american-summer-10-years-later-fun-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/wet-hot-american-summer-10-years-later-fun-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later<\/em> is a mess, but it\u2019s a fun one, sometimes"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later<\/em>, Netflix\u2019s latest revisiting of the beloved 2001 cult comedy film, Gerald \u201cCoop\u201d Cooperberg (Michael Showalter) is now a struggling novelist who bemoans being unable to find a good ending to his book. Coincidentally, the Wet Hot <\/em>saga that Showalter built with David Wain can be described in a similar way, only in this case the pair is running out of story to tell.<\/p>\n

Picking up a decade after the original crew left Camp Firewood, 10 Years Later<\/em> is centered on a reunion the junior counselors planned way back in 1981<\/a> at the end of the movie. And like the film \u2014 and First Day of Camp<\/em>, Netflix\u2019s other Wet Hot<\/em> series \u2014 10 Years Later<\/em> finds a lot of humor in the actors being much, much older than their characters. But this time around, the age is much more apparent, specifically in the show\u2019s humor.<\/p>\n

Part of what made Wet Hot American Summer<\/em> so loved and influential was its almost virtuosic absurdity. With its constant meta-jokes, drawn out sight gags and total disregard for the concept of time, it more or less created the template for modern alt-comedy. And because of that, many of the 10 Years Later <\/em>jokes can feel stale \u2014 sure, Showalter, Wain and their costars may have popularized this stuff, but it\u2019s been seen so much since that it can feel tired, even coming from its purveyors.<\/p>\n

That said, the cast \u2014 10 Years Later<\/em>\u2019s greatest asset by far \u2014 is always game, which helps to find the life in many of the jokes. Still a virgin, Ken Marino\u2019s Victor can turn even the most clueless innuendos into comedic gold (as does his sidekick, Joe Lo Truglio\u2019s Neil, after he finishes his three-episode nap of course). And Katie (Marguerite Moreau, who, like Paul Rudd, hasn\u2019t aged a day since the original film), is still bubbly and bipolar, pinballing between emotions almost on a dime. And don\u2019t even get me started on Rudd\u2019s Andy, now a grunge wannabe doing his best-worst Eddie Vedder impression, or Amy Poehler\u2019s Susie going full-on Pretty in Pink<\/em> as a Hollywood super-producer.<\/span>\n