The Wet Hot American Takeover

If you are anything like me, you most likely spent the entirety of this past week glued to your Netflix account. That's because two Fridays ago, the now dominant media streaming service dropped the latest of their original series Wet Hot American Summer. This title may sound familiar to you if you have seen the 2001 film as it has gone on to build a rather large cult following.  It wasn't always a profitable property however and the story of how this show came to be is a testament to the power of fandom.

After the movie was released and received poor critical response it ended up with a less than worthwhile theatrical release and first time director David Wain thought he had a bust on his hands. In the coming years however and thanks to streaming services like Netflix the film has gone on to build a huge following of die-hard fans. This was in large part due to the zany style of comedy and the unimaginable cast of what were then up and coming actors. I have said plenty on this film though and you can find my full review of it here.

After finding success in the coming years and with an ever growing fandom, director David Wain got the entire gang back together (I'm still baffled they were able to do this) and with some help from Netflix they successfully resurrected the beloved summer camp. Last week we all got to see the final product and judge for ourselves just how worthwhile of an idea this all really was. We all quickly burned through the eight episodes that night and once more through the rest of the weekend. Many of you (I know I did) probably even revisited the original movie, allowing Camp Firewood to completely consume your weekend. But did you notice the other gem Netflix snuck on while you weren't paying attention?

I'm referring to the little documentary called Hurricane of Fun: The Making of Wet Hot. While we were all busy watching the new series plenty of people missed this fantastic look into how the original came to be and how it was possible for it to happen again. Having watched this, the entire series, and the movie all this weekend I figured I'd give you guys short reviews for The First Day of Camp and Hurricane of Fun. I'm sure all you longtime fans have already consumed every second of this but for the people a little more unfamiliar with it I hope this may serve as a nice introduction for you into what exactly this world is. So I invite you to sit back, relax, and let the Wet Hot American Takeover consume you.

 

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (2015)

Comedy

Directed By: David Wain

When the original movie was released back in 2001 we got to see what the last day of summer camp was like for this rowdy group of counselors back in 1981. But how did they get to this point? How did these relationships come to be and set up the epic finale they would experience on the last day? With the rebirth of the franchise David Wain has decided to try and answer those questions by taking us back to the beginning of that summer and taking us through the first day of camp. Over the course of eight thirty minute episodes he sends us on a journey back to 1981 to experience the life of a kid at summer camp, well, sort of. This isn't your average summer camp and these aren't your average counselors but damnit if they aren't going to do what they can to have the best summer of their lives.

The whole crew is back, and I mean the WHOLE crew. Michael Showalter, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Joe Lo Truglio, Marguerite Moreau, Michael Ian Black, and anyone else you can think to name from the original have all come back to reprise their roles as sixteen year old camp counselors. This is ultimately what makes this series so damn clever, each of these actors who are now into their late thirties and early forties are portraying teenagers and the show is completely aware of this. They are constantly poking fun at this fact and using to create brilliant humor throughout.

Among all the returning faces they also bring in a few new ones and each of them add their own style and flavor to the show. Jason Schwartzman, Lake Bell, John Slattery and Jon Hamm all add a ton to the reboot and a few other guest appearances I won't spoil make every episode an absolute delight to watch. They also find a more prominent role for H. Jon Benjamin, who plays a talking can of vegetables in the original movie. Not only do they play around with that idea but they create an "origins" story for it that fits the tone of the show perfectly.

That's basically what this show is, an "origins" story for each of our now beloved characters and how they came to be in the position they are in on the last day of camp. This is basically the greatest prequel ever told and thanks to incredible writing and direction it plays as kind of a spoof of what we expect from these kinds of stories. If you thought the events that unfolded during the last day were crazy, just wait until you see how the summer started.

David Wain and company also did a wonderful job with the children, they played a fun role in the original movie but were basically side characters to the bigger picture. Having the luxury of telling this story over eight episodes he made sure to give them a little more to do this time around. They found the perfect look alike to play Art "The Beekeeper" with George Dalton and David Bloom is quite impressive as our main child character Kevin. What really impressed me however was Thomas Barbusca's performance as the obnoxious Drew, the red-headed nemesis (or friend?) of Kevin. This kid is off the rails and scores some the biggest and best laughs of the entire series, if the decide to do more with this show he better be included in future plans.

It's difficult to sum up eight episodes and four hours of a show into just a few paragraphs but I urge you guys to check this out if you haven't yet. The original movie is a blast and the series takes it to another level that I didn't think was possible. They blend just about every type of humor there is, from slapstick to dry, to create a show like nothing I have seen before and it makes for the perfect summer viewing.

 

Hurricane of Fun: The Making of Wet Hot (2015)

Documentary

Directed By: Amy Rice 

After you burn through the eight episodes of The First day of Camp and then revisit the movie to relive the last day of camp, you can keep the train rolling by checking out this cool little documentary. Hurricane of Fun follows the cast and crew of the original movie on their month long shoot out at an actual summer camp in Pennsylvania. For a small, independent, low-budget comedy you would think making it would be fairly simple and unproblematic, think again.

After raining nearly every single day, minus a small handful, they found themselves with far more issues than ever anticipated. The film, after all, takes place almost entirely during the last sunny day of camp. It's hard to recreate that atmosphere when it's overcast and rainy all of the time but the people behind this film found a way to make it work. Through the magic of film making, using tools like lighting and misdirection they were able to make the movie regardless of the horrid conditions and until someone makes this known to you, you could never tell while watching the movie. After seeing this you start to notice muddy grass and things of that nature that highlight the fact that they had been dealing with horrid weather.

As impressive as that all is though, the real magic of this documentary is watching how the cast and crew interact while making it. Despite the shitty weather and the problems none of them ever got down on their spirits, they were always just happy to be making this film. For many of these now super star actors and actresses this was their first film, and they treated it as such. Watching the behind the scenes interviews and interactions between all of these people really shows you how personal this was for everyone involved. No one on set just thought of it as another movie and another paycheck, instead they treated it as though they all were actually at summer camp. It wasn't too hard for them considering they were all living on the camp and staying in cabins with other bunk mates. While filming a movie about summer camp they were all basically attending their own and it shows in the final product.

You can tell this cast became close over the shoot and never forgot about it, half of these people would go on to work together multiple times in their prestigious careers and find wonderful success. When you watch this is comes as no surprise that Wain was able to get the gang back together, regardless of how famous they all are now. I'm sure they all jumped at the opportunity to go back to camp and share some quality time with old friends.

Hurricane of Fun is a wonderful look into not only how this film was made, but at the filmmaking process in general. We get glimpses of what an actual shoot looks and feels like and what happens when unexpected problems arise like crappy weather or faulty equipment. This is a thoroughly entertaining watch for any fans of film, but for the Wet Hot fans this is an absolute treat. If you ever needed a reason to love Amy Poehler anymore than you already do just wait until you see the behind the scenes interviews with her, she will charm your pants off. This short little documentary, compiled from 25 hours of BTS footage taken by Amy Rice, is the perfect capper for your series binge.

I have personally let Wet Hot American Summer take over my life for the past week and a half and I wouldn't have it any other way. Netflix is currently crushing it with their original content and Wet Hot is just another notch in the belt for them. So far I have seen nothing but praise from fans of the property and I don't think I am alone when I say I hope this isn't the end. I don't know how much more I would like to see but I definitely want these people back on screen together for something. If you haven't yet checked out this wonderful little franchise than I suggest hopping on the bandwagon as it is a brilliant piece of American comedy, something we don't get too much of anymore (see my review for the new Vacation). Not only that, but it is the perfect piece of summer viewing, enjoy it.

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!