Rating: 
Summary: The funniest movie to come along in years.
Review: This movie had me in stitches from beginning to end. I went because I was a fan of "The State," and thought it would resemble some of their old sketches. It didn't. It was so much better than that. I've since bought the movie on DVD and have shared it with friends who enjoyed it even more than I did. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "The best movie ever!"
Review: "Easily one of the funniest and random movies i've ever seen. Wain and Showalter take sketch comedy and roll out one hell of a good time."
Rating:
Summary: I found it hilarious..
Review: but it's definitely not for everyone. As the reviews show, this is a movie that you either love or hate.As some of the negative reviews have mentioned, there is a major lack of continuity in this film. This is something that made it really funny, in my opinion, and I would be willing to bet that those people didn't even notice exactly how much blatant discontinuity there was. In one particular scene, a character returns from a short trip with long, raggedy hair to talk to another character, and when the camera returns to him after she says something, his hair is at the length it was when he left. Just a couple minutes later, a similar thing happens with another character, even more obvious this time. I don't know about you, but I thought that was quite funny. What I think is a problem for those who don't like this movie is that they expect some blunt parody of the 80's camp movies, when it really isn't. I think it revels in the genre but isn't really trying to directly mock it like Scary Movie did to horror movies. While there is definite parody in it, much of it is simply demented, nonsensical fun. I found the lack of consistent parallels refreshing, and it kept the movie interesting. And you have to really pay attention to it, because there is subtle humor strewn throughout. I will say that I was a fan of The State in its days, but I had no idea that the people from that show had anything to do with this movie at the time I'd rented it. I just knew some people who thought it was funny. I also was never into 80's camp movies. So you don't have to be really knowledgeable of that genre to enjoy this. You do, however, need to have an appreciation for weirdness and an unusual sense of humor to really "get" this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Best since Ski School
Review: This is the best movie to come out since Ski School. Take the excellent cast from MTV's The State and put them in Meatballs and you get this movie. This is a better parody than even Scary Movie pulled off. Anyone who doesn't like this movie takes themselves way to seriously. This DVD is always in the 3 disk changer and I come home some days to this movie on and my roomates drunk as hell. This movie has that kind of effect. Party on!
Rating:
Summary: The Funniest Film of 2001
Review: As a twenty-two year old male who fondly remembers both staying up late to watch summer camp sex comedies on cable while his parents were asleep AND devotedly watching the The State's MTV series, I am an ideal member of Wet Hot American Summer's target audience. Predictably, I laughed harder watching this film than I have at anything since 99's Bowfinger. Should being a fan of The State be an important factor in enjoying this film? No. Should spending a sizeable chunk of your late-night adolescence hoping Mom & Dad don't catch you enjoying Hamburger: The Motion Picture a little too much determine whether or not you'll "get" a film that makes so many era-specific references? Absolutely not. Blessed with a witty script by State alumni David Wain (who also directs) and Michael Showalter (who does double duty as an actor) that deftly balances telling its story briskly and slyly subverting it in ways that are so suprising you laugh not only at the joke but at being caught genuinely off guard. The film also boasts one of the most gifted casts of comedic actors in recent memory. Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, vets from The State as well as actors such as Paul Rudd and Christopher Meloni who are so good and so in sync with the production that if one were not aware of their impressive dramatic work, Meloni as Keller on HBO's OZ and Rudd in various films including The Cider House Rules, you would think they were career comedians. And the ensemble of young actors playing the summer camp children are simply astonishing in their assurance. Wet Hot American Summer is one of the few films to have so large a cast of child actors where every single one is perfect in their role. Reviewers left cold by this film complained that summer camp film staples such as Meatballs and others that inspired Wet Hot American Summer were beneath spoofing. Such comments are as off the mark as someone beefing that the Airport films that Airplane! skewered were too lousy to have a film dedicated to making fun of them. For one thing, if something is funny than it needs no further justification. More importantly, bottom-line driven schlock such as disaster films and summer camp romp flicks are ideal because they provide those sending them up with a solid story structure, rules which must be abided when making such films and stock characters that propel the story forward. Commercial films made for no other reason than to pop a quick, cheap profit are like the plays of the Greeks and of the Romans in that you can break them down to a simple formula that can be repeated umpteen times with little to no variation. The problem with most original comedies is that it is hard to craft a stable structure that doesn't take a quarter of the film's running length to pick up steam or that doesn't completely peter out in the end. Owen Gleiberman at Entertainment Weekly was perhaps the only major critic to include Wet Hot American Summer as one of the year's top films. With at least an honest half-dozen performances that would qualify as Oscar-worthy and a script in league with more celebrated films such as Memento and Ghost World, Wet Hot American Summer should be destined to find its home as a perennial video/dvd rental. Ultimately this is a shame because this film deserved immediate recognition as one of the top American comedies of the past five years.
Rating:
Summary: INCREDIBLE
Review: How did I miss this movie when it was in the theaters??!!!! If you don't think this movie is funny, you are a moron. What a flick! I had heard this was funny, but I was not prepared for the continuously over the top stuff in the movie. I never really watched the State until it was well over with. If you like the state, you should love this movie. Very Python/Kids influenced stuff. I cannot say enough good things about this movie. The cast is stellar, the dialogue is incredible, the outfits are over the top, the soundtrack is insane, but the subtleties are what makes this movie stick out. I've watched in 5 times and can see that number doubling a little quicker than could be healthy.
Rating: 
Summary: Half good
Review: I bought this movie because I read some good reviews. Mistake! The movie was actually really good for about an hour. I laughed so hard at some parts. The rest of the movie was stupid. It got so ridiculous that I almost stopped watching it. I think the first half is worth watching so you should see this movie but I wouldn't buy it.
Rating:
Summary: A Top Ten of 2001
Review: Working in a movie theater, I saw over forty movies in 2001 and 'Wet Hot American Summer' was in the top ten. I saw it several times in theaters and can't wait to own it. It is absolutally hilarious.
Rating:
Summary: "you can literally say it anytime"
Review: this film is to the 00's as 'caddyshack' was to the 80's and 'office space' was to the 90's: a movie that is so subtly funny that upon first viewing you're not even sure you like it. but, after talking about it with somebody else, you laugh harder re-telling your favorite lines and suddnly, it dawns on you: "this movie is a classic!" buy the DVD, watch it twice and then make everybody you know watch it. they'll say "uh, i didn't think it was that funny." this is where you remind them of the going to town scene, the getting rid of the witness scene, and the ex-veitnam chef. then they go, "oh yeah. that was pretty funny. but, still..." then, this is where you pull out you're favorite quote. (choose from the dozens of classic lines) eventually they'll come to grips with the film's excellence and then they'll tell all their friends and before long, we'll see articles in newsweek about the underground movement for 'wet hot american summer.' seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: Conceptually questionable but still pretty damned funny
Review: I think what disorients people (including myself) about this movie is the instability of its comic tone, ranging from realistic character bits (i.e. Janeane Garofalo's awkward flirting with David Hyde Pierce) to broad satire (i.e. Molly Shannon's romance with a 10 year old) to meta-fictional gags on movie conventions (i.e. a rescue performed entirely off-screen while another character narrates and reacts), often jumping back and forth from one scene to another. This is either sophisticated or slipshod (depending on how intentional it was) but I don't suppose it matters when there are this many laughs to be had. (And you can tell the cast had a great time goofing around with this stuff.) Just don't go in expecting a straightforward parody of "Meatballs" (or the attendant T&A) lest you be unnecessarily disappointed.
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