An American Werewolf in Paris (1997) Tom Everett Scott, Julie Delpy, Vince Vieluf, Julie Bowen Movie Review

An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Tom Everett Scott in An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

Howling at the Goon

Andy (Tom Everett Scott), Brad (Vince Vieluf) and Chris (Phil Buckman) are a trio of Americans who whilst backpacking around Europe are pulling off various stupid stunts. When their trip brings them to Paris it gives Andy the chance to bungee off of the Eiffel Tower except before he does the pretty Serafine (Julie Delpy) shows up and with a tear in her eye jumps. Jumping after her Andy manages to save her, releasing her as they reach the bottom, grabbing her shoe before the bungee cord pulls him back up and head first into a metal beam. When he comes to with the shoe in his hand Andy is desperate to track her down. Eventually he does only to discover Serafine's secret, she is a werewolf and part of a secret sect who hide out in the city and unfortunately Andy is becoming one too.

There are many things which frustrate me in life and one of those is when someone expects a sequel which comes over a decade later to have the same style and vibe as the original. Take "An American Werewolf in Paris" which has been lambasted many a time because it didn't have the same style and vibe as "An American Werewolf in London". The thing is that there are 16 years in between the two movies and to make a movie in a style from 1981 would not work for a modern young audience which "An American Werewolf in Paris" is clearly targeting. So yes those who loved the original will be disappointed by it but then the movie was not really made for them.

Julie Delpy in An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

There is though a flip side to this and the question of whether or not the style of "An American Werewolf in Paris" actually works. How can I say this, NO! I can understand the decision to go with almost a sitcom style movie with that level of comedy where jokes about condoms being gum and fluffed dates are meant to make us laugh but it is simply lame. It all seems so safe and often unfunny as we watch these Americans and in particular Andy ending up involved in this group of werewolves.

You may have noticed that I haven't really said anything about the storyline and to be honest that is because there isn't a lot to say as the story is as lame as the humour. In fact aside from some semi decent special effects the only other thing worth mentioning is the casting of Julie Delpy who quite simply is too good for this sort of movie. Ironically it means that Delpy as Serafine stands out like a sore thumb because her performance whilst not great is greater than all the other parts of the movie put together.

But now I am sort of confusing myself as in truth "An American Werewolf in Paris" didn't really work for me as it was all a bit too dumb for my liking. Yet maybe if I had been 16 years old back in the late 90s it would have worked and made me laugh.

What this all boils down to is that "An American Werewolf in Paris" is not without its problems, in fact it has lots of them and one is that it has limited appeal. But that is the major thing about this movie; it was made in the late 90s and aimed to entertain a mid teenage crowd rather than being a genuine sequel to "An American Werewolf in London" or trying to recreate the same vibe as the original.


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