REVIEW: Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later

Courtesy of Netflix

Back in 2001, Michael Showalter and David Wain cast a bunch of mostly unknown actors who were a decade too old to play 16-year-old kids having ridiculous adventures at summer camp. The movie bombed, mostly because viewers didn’t get the satirical, absurdist humor. However, it eventually developed a cult following because almost the entire cast – including Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks and Amy Poehler – went on to become superstars.

In 2015, Netflix helped Showalter and Wain take the joke one step further with an eight-episode series subtitled First Day of Camp. The hilarious show brought back every single actor and asked them to play the same characters several weeks younger, even though they were all fourteen years older. While it’s tough to maintain comedic momentum over 240 minutes (instead of 95) the show mostly pulled it off.

Now, almost everyone’s back for a third installment called 10 Years Later. The first movie foreshadowed this, since the characters all agreed to meet up in a decade to see where they were in life, but the cast’s massive success indicates that perhaps they should’ve waited a little longer.

Showalter and Wain continue to maintain the almost nonstop barrage of random humor, surprising emotional moments and jarring tonal shifts, but the ratio of winners to clunkers is a lot closer. Plus, it’s clear that scheduling conflicts hurt the production much more this time around.

It was obvious in First Day of Camp that the series was shooting around the actors’ availability (Cooper filmed his scenes in a day, and then the screenwriters concocted a reason for his character to wear a ski mask for several episodes so they could use a body double), but 10 Years Later reaches fourth season of Arrested Development levels of shooting around missing performers.

For example, Cooper doesn’t appear at all (he’s replaced by Adam Scott with a pretty funny plastic surgery joke) and Banks clearly shot all her scenes separate from everyone else. Not to mention that new, unnecessary characters played by Sarah Burns and Mark Feuerstein are retconned to seem like they’ve been a part of the gang all along. The actors are fine, but it feels weirdly like a betrayal.

I understand that logistics come into play, but it really messes with the narrative’s momentum and the cast’s camaraderie. Fortunately, some of the other actors pick up the slack. Christopher Meloni, Chris Pine, Jason Schwartzman and Alyssa Milano completely steal the show in their hilarious subplots.

As I always mention when I talk about this series, it’s definitely not for everyone. Those with an aversion to random humor should stay far away. But if you don’t mind getting back in touch with your junior high self, there’s still a lot about Wet Hot American Summer to enjoy. I certainly wouldn’t mind another season in a few years, as long as they can get the core cast together for more than a couple of scenes.

Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later is rated TV-MA. Now streaming on Netflix.

Grade: B-