Summer of Netflix Day 29 - Wet Hot American Summer

Joel: Most people watching this movie are probably doing it for the same reasons that we are. The prequel Netflix series is coming out soon and you want to see the movie before the show. So, I had very little knowledge of what this movie was about before seeing it. I knew it had a lot of people in it that went on to become famous, and I knew it was a comedy, that’s pretty much it. It takes a bit to see where the movie is going, about to the scene where the counselors go into town. And at that point, the movie kicks it into high gear and really gets going. It takes the Airplane! style of comedy of getting as many jokes as possible into every possible moment. For every joke that happens in the foreground of the movie, at least two more are happening in the background. There are so many jokes, some you’ll only get if you’re looking at the right part of the screen at the right time. Some, you’ll only get if you’ve ever been a summer camp counselor. But I’m glad I never got around to watching it before now, because I only have a few weeks to wait for the show, and not the fourteen years that other people have had to wait.

Chris: This was always one of those movies that would come on Comedy Central with a fair amount of regularity and I, in my younger age, would watch for a few minutes and quickly lose interest before changing the channel. Years later and actually appreciating the incredible cast gathered on WHAS, I get why there’s such a cult following because it was hilarious on a variety of levels. It’s silly and absurd and I understand what David Wain was aiming for with They Came Together even if the execution was off but that wasn’t the case in WHAS. The execution was incredible by the entire cast, even the kids, and I typically can’t stand child acting. That’s a feat upon itself. I would like to see a reunion movie set years later but I’ll definitely check-out the weird prequel show coming out in a couple weeks on Netflix.