Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (Widescreen Unrated Edition)

 

 

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Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay(released April/08)is a worthy sequel to the surprise first movie hit,H&K at the White Castle.Kumar Patel(Karl Penn)and Harold Lee(John Cho) are back as the two traveling misfits who bungle their way from one funny situation to another.Whether this sequel is up to the standards set by the first one is up for debate,but either way you come down on the issue,both are funny films to be watched with an open mind and NOT to be taken too seriously.
The film opens where the first left off as we find Harold and Kumar setting off to Amsterdam to see Harold's apartment neighbour who has flown off there previously.Of course this situation sets things up for alot of trouble/laughs ahead.Kumar,the main instigant stoner of the two,has sneaked aboard a smokeless bong and is in the bathroom trying it out.Harold enters,scolds Kumar and leaves.But the door is ajar and someone mistakes his "appliance"for a bomb.The two end up arrested and being interrogated by a totally over obsessive Homeland Security Agent(Rob Cordry).He believes Al Quaida and the North Koreans have joined together and the two are sent where all terrorists are sent;Guantanamo Bay.
Well it is no picnic there but the two somehow manage to escape the prison and flee to the States aboard a boat of illegal Cuban immigrants.In Miami they locate a friends house to get help.From here,with a borrowed car they make their way to Texas where Kumar's ex-girlfriend is getting married.Along the way they get lost in a bad part of Birmingham,they meet up with a brother/sister-husband/wife couple with a son who has one eye,and finally they get mixed up with the KKK.As they flee they run into their old friend Neil Patrick Harris who takes them to a "roadhouse".
When things go south there and they are fleeing,Harris gets shot in the back by the head madam and is left for dead.
H&K finally arrive at Kumar's exe's place on her wedding day.The guy she is marrying is seemingly a good pal of Harold's,but in the end it is he who turns both of them into Homeland Security.From here it is a free plane ticket back to GB.However the two escape the plane and land smack dab into the living room of ex-President Bush at his Texas retreat.The three get along like gang busters and they are soon all toking up.In the end H&K are pardoned,presidentially of course,and with Kumar's old girlfriend in tow,all head to Amsterdam where they surprise Harold's girlfriend in a big reunion.
James Adomian does a fantastic job as president Bush and Neil Patrick Harris keeps his off the wall persona on high gear throughout the film,as he did in the first one.Of course most of the situations the two run into are tremendously far fetched,but that is the element that gives this film its spontaneity and keeps it moving.You just never know what is going to come around the next corner,as H&K are constantly reacting to this onslaught of circumstances either directly or indirectly their own fault.
Technically speaking the film is in its w/s a/r of 1:85:1 and is clear and crisp.This two disc edition is the only way to go.The first disc gives you a choice between the unrated version and "Dude,change the movie".If you choose the latter,an on screen message will pop up during the films play and you will have the choice to skip the scene or go on with it.You also have commentary by the director and stars or commentary with the directors,John Cho and James Adomian.The second disc is loaded with extras such as a featurette on the making of the film,a Bush PSA,18 deleted scenes and nine extra deleted/alternate/outtakes.
All in all this is the best way to get the full H&K Escape from Guantanamo Bay experience.You have two ways to view it and it is loaded with extras.This sequel is a deserving one from the first and you will never find yourself waiting too long for the next laugh to come.Recommended.

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle was one of the most surprising comedies of the last decade. Seemingly out of nowhere came this comedy starring two guys we'd never heard of before, it was new, it was fun, it had a teeny tiny bit of a message, but most of all it was just a little different.

A sequel was a no-brainer. The original left the opening, and the success of the original made it a certainty. The sequel falls short in almost every way imaginable. The gross-out humour now is just gross, not funny. The shocking humour is just shocking, not humourous. The characters of Harold and Kumar are now just characitures.

There were certain aspects I enjoyed. I thought the George W. Bush scene was damn funny, even if the actor playing Bush looks nothing like Bush. The opening on the airplane was funny albeit completely predictable. While the original used racial stereotypes playfully and cleverly, this new film just utilized them for cheap laughs, and falls flat on its face.

Annoying scenes:
* The entire Gitmo sequence, too gross for words.
* The bottomless party.
* The cyclops.
* Anything with the annoyingly stupid Homeland Securiry guy (Rob Corrdry). Like, seriously, come on. Nobody is that stupid, not even government suits.

I've only watched this on DVD once. Well, twice. See, there's a choose-your-own-adventure aspect to the DVD. You can make Harold and Kumar go one way or another at key points in the film, which branches off into alternate versions of the film. However, choose wrongly and you may find your film prematurely ended. I inadvertently broke up Harold and Kumar, ending the film rather quickly. Whoops.

But then again, that short version was a lot less painful.

2 stars.

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