Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
Directors: Michael Showalter, David Wain
(Netflix)
A
Ahh, summer camp, where the sweet smell of youth and promise lingers on the horizon as the sweltering lazy days drip into each other like sweat down a fat kid’s brow.
Jump back, summer 2015, because the season just got even better with Netflix’s rad, original flashback, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. This eight-episode arc is a prequel to the Camp Firewood of yore, featuring the familiar faces of Andy (Paul Rudd), Katie (Marguerite Moreau), Susie (Amy Poehler), Ben (Bradley Cooper), and Coop (Michael Showalter). Best of all, many of these current A-listers still assume their former 16-year-old personas (despite pushing 40), brilliantly and ridiculously so.
It’s the beginning of the summer, a fresh start to a new year of camp, and all is right with the world. Katie and douchebag extraordinaire Blake (Josh Charles) are madly in love, Coop awaits the return of girlfriend/one-time hook-up Donna (Lake Bell), Susie and Ben prepare for the arrival of Broadway semi-legend Claude Dumet (John Slattery), and Beth shares the camp’s reigns with overeager boys’ head counselor Greg (Jason Schwartzman).
But, alas, this treasure trove of picturesque memories in the making is sadly short-lived for a shit ton of reasons. First there’s the government conspiracy featuring toxic neon sludge and a trained assassin (Jon Hamm) hell-bent on clouding a conspiracy. Then there’s the hermetic, washed-up rock n’ roller (Chris Pine) living in an abandoned cabin and surviving on Tab soda and the bitter taste of his tears. Add in an undercover reporter, several sordid love triangles, a talking can of vegetables, a rumble with a rival camp, a madcap belching contest, and you’ve got all the makings for one hell of a ride.
There’s a bit going on, to say the very least. Crazy moments pop up endlessly, explained away with a “eh, yep, that happened.” Logical it may not be, but fans of David Wain’s and Michael Showalter’s 2001 inanity have surely come to expect that.
Speaking of inanity, the very fact that seasoned, professional actors like Poehler and Cooper are playing teenage camp counselors makes the dialogue and situational comedy all the more entertaining. At one point, Susie tells John Slattery’s Claude Dumet that their relationship would be inappropriate because she’s “only 16,” which had me cracking up because it’s hard to separate where the performer stops and the character begins. It feels like you’re just watching a bunch of your friends (I promise I have friends in real life) goofing around, and that’s why it works so well.
While the feature film may have been jam-packed with cameos, the 2015 reboot raises the stakes even higher. Besides the aforementioned newcomers, First Day of Camp features the likes of Kristen Wiig, Jordan Peele, Michael Cera, Randall Park, Paul Scheer, H. Jon Benjamin (in person) and even Weird Al Yankovic.
These new characters fit in seamlessly with the old gang. This isn’t a “you should’ve seen the movie first” type of situation. With all the super inventive backstories woven throughout, any newcomer to Camp Firewood could easily hop into the circle without skipping a beat.
All I can say is hail to Netflix for snatching this series up, a program that’s the perfect binge watch to end your probably campless Oklahoma summer. Put on your tube socks and crank up the Jefferson Starship – Camp Firewood is back.
