Harold et Kumar s'évadent de Guantanamo

If you enjoyed Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and have any reservations about the sequel, fear not. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay may not be quite the same as its predecessor, but it brings enough of the story mechanics back and the stoner humor that made it a cult success. Writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, also serving as directors this time around, have upped the ante like the sequel cliché goes. There is more nudity, (with a bottomless party, how could there not?), a lot more swearing, and just plain old vulgarities every single second. As for the premise's blatant sending up of racial stereotypes and epithets, even those get a shot of adrenaline going from the city streets of Alabama, a KKK kegger, and the bigoted government officials unable to decipher the weird Chinese dialect, called English, spoken by Harold's parents. It definitely isn't pretty, bodily fluids flow freely, but the laughs never cease. When your goal is to bring the funny and there are times in the theatre when one can't hear the next line because of uproarious laughter, you know success is yours.

The beauty of this film is the amount of fun you know these guys are having. To get all the principals back for a second go round of a film that did no bank at the box office is quite the feat. Sure DVD sales and internet buzz was huge for the original, but did anyone ever think the boys would actually get to Amsterdam on the big screen? I know I didn't have that much faith. People could badmouth this effort very easily for many reasons, most obvious is the fact that it is pretty much the exact same film as the first. Yet, there were very few instances where I wasn't laughing let alone smiling at the proceedings. When else can you see a nod to the classics like The Goonies done so well? My biggest concern going in was with the war on terrorism satire that the trailers tried so hard to get across. When you put in an actor to play someone like George W. Bush, it can backfire and go completely awry. Surprisingly, though, that scene, amongst others, is actually pretty well done. The ineptitude of the American government is portrayed often—and actor Rob Corddry is the worst part of the film spearheading that aspect; I just don't like his schtick—yet there is always someone there to play the other side (Roger Bart) and show that while they know there are mistakes, they aren't a bunch of buffoons going around willy-nilly. If nothing else this film should be credited for finally having the guts to poke fun at the tragedy of 9-11. It's been so long and I think that humor is necessary for any sort of healing process. To have the fortitude to do the airplane scene with Kumar laughing in his Taliban garb motioning a crashing airport is not something to tread with lightly. Hurwitz and Schlossberg decided to go pedal to the metal with this film and they never make a compromise, kudos to them for that.

The film begins right where the first left off and everyone is still in the same frame of mind. To add a little spice to the mix, we do get introduced to a new character, Vanessa, an old flame of Kumar's. Being that she is about to marry an aspiring politician, the inclusion not only plays into the need of a love interest, (Maria is still in Amsterdam, and of course we all know the boys don't make it off the plane to see her), but also into the ability to bring the government in through his connections. Being on the cusp of even having the President attend his wedding, who better to go to for help in absolving their terrorist accusations? Vanessa is well played by the attractive Danneel Harris in a role that doesn't get much screen time. She is, however, involved in probably my favorite scene of the film—a flashback on how she meets Kumar and shows him the world of narcotics. It is a fantastic sequence helping to align his brains with the lifestyle he has begun to live in…and there is a brilliant cameo by Harold that brought the house down.

Of course the movie would be nothing without John Cho and Kal Penn, the titular characters respectively. Their rapport is fully intact and the shenanigans they get into are the impetus of the story. It's a shame that Cho is in practically nothing and Penn has been relegated to roles without lines (Superman Returns) and television ("24" and "House") because they could do so much better (as evidenced with The Namesake). This is their film and they do not disappoint, right until the end credits. There are a lot of cameos here as well, mostly from people that we saw in the original. Playing themselves in either stereotypical ways or as the butt of a racial joke, it's good to see them have a sense of humor. If only everyone in real life could have that attitude they wouldn't be cultivating racism by the sheer fact they accuse everyone of it. While that is probably another discussion for another time, at least this broad comedy has enough cultural value to realize it and put it into the minds of college kids for whom the film targets.

Oh, and did I mention Neil Patrick Harris? No? Well that must be because he is so brilliant words can't even describe. What a conclusion to his arc, just fantastic.

For some reason I actually found the first film pretty enjoyable and it had enough laughs for me to justify coming back to the second film. The title made me think that the story would also lend itself to be a fairly one-sided p1ss-take of the US handling of the terrorism issue and I hoped this would add a sharp element to the otherwise stoner comedy. That the film opens with Kumar taking a dump and then ejaculating up over himself amazingly did not dissuade me from this belief. However as the film went on I realised that there would be nothing particularly smart about this film and that it is all about the stoner comedy as per the first film - which, like I said, I enjoyed.

Sadly though the second film falls way short of the mark in terms of laughs. In terms of being graphic, crude and obvious it is right on point though, but the problem is that little of this material is funny when it comes to execution. So in theory the scene with George Bush (one of the worst impersonators of him I've seen) could have been barbed and cutting, instead is just basic and surprisingly lazy. In fact "lazy" is a word that sprung to mind several times throughout the film mainly because of the lack of creativity within it and also the amount of box ticking. The lavatorial humour, the excessive nudity and usual homophobia (except of course when it comes to girls) is all present but only appears to be there so that the target audience can tick them off - at very least they linger long after the joke is made. In terms of playing with stereotypes and racial profiling it does offer more and there is a certain delight in seeing so many groups generalised and slandered, however again it is hard not to feel more could have been made of it. Maybe I'm expecting too much but there was opportunity for satire to be slipped in here but it never came and it is a lesser film for its absence.

It did still make me laugh but way too infrequently for me to enjoy as a comedy even if it does have really enjoyable hits. As before the sheer juxtaposition of Neil Patrick Harris' public image with that presented in these films makes his parts easy to enjoy, even if it is a bit too "easy" on this occasion and just feels like a retread of the first film. Cho and Penn make engaging leads and they play well to the material - that much of it isn't that good is not down to their performances, if anything they deserved better. The support cast features a wonderfully daft turn from Corddy but mostly just minor roles doing the basics.

Harold & Kumar 2 may suggest a political edge with its title but ultimately it is not much more than a repeat of the first film but with increased nudity and crudity but decreased laughter rate and entertainment value. It will probably still please teenage boys with the basics but offers little to a wider audience.

First, let me say I was a big fan of the first Harold and Kumar film.

This sequel has none of the witty elements of the first film. The movie seemed like a weak student film with novice acting, poor direction, and no continuity (forget about how bad the writing was for this movie - here is a tip to the writers; that thing about smoking weed to get creativity, it is a myth so you might want to put the bong down next time). If this was the writer directors first film, it would surely be their last because it was so bad. Luckily, I didn't pay to see this junk and even so I feel like I should ask for money back! Don't say I didn't warn you......

As a fan of Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, I really didn't think they could recapture the magic of the first film in the sequel. Sequels are, so often, horrible disappointments. But the World Premiere of Harold & Kumar Escape from Gauntanamo Bay last night as Austin's SXSW Film Festival was simply awesome. The audience loved America's favorite slackers on their next adventure as their trip to Amsterdam goes incredibly wrong.

Whereas the first film challenged racism and stereotyping, this one continued the theme into issues of racial profiling and War on Terror paranoia. These multicultural slackers are becoming American every-men that we can all relate to. While there are times when Harold & Kumar's antics are just plain silly, they are also incredible human characters who are struggling with real challenges around parents, romance, friendship, the law, and race. Harold & Kumar make us laugh while they also challenge our perceptions and expectations of social and political reality.

Cho and Penn were wonderful reprising their original roles. Neal Patrick Harris was back again as a strange variant of himself. Rod Corddry provides a wonderful addition to the cast as the completely paranoid government agent. Overall, the film is perhaps a tad below the original, but a tad below excellent is still a wonderful comic romp that all fans of the original and many new fans should enjoy. Unlike the first film which gained a cult following on DVD, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guatanamo Bay will undoubtedly be a huge hit in the theaters. The audience here in Austin absolutely loved the two lovable anti-heroes. I look forward to many more adventures from Harold and Kumar.

When I watched the first Harold and Kumar, I thought the film was hilarious. Two Asian dudes that goes on a crazy adventure just to get themselves some burgers. Memorable scenes were, Freakshow, Bobby Lee as the student, EEXXXTRRREEEEMMME, the Black guy in jail scenes and beating the Bag of Weed wife.

Unlike the first film, I don't think there were such memorable or funny scenes. But does that make the sequel bad? No. Why? Because this time, we have a plot! The quest is not just one linear goal now. The first film had Harold believing in himself and not doing other people's work, whereas Kumar had accepted that he is good at medicine. This second time around, their emotional goal is to grow up and find love.

Having hilarious flashbacks, EMO HAROLD, the writers "plant the seeds" for what happens later on in the film. And it works effectively. It gives the film a full circle appeal and much more touching than the first film. Neil Patrick Harris cameos in this film again, but I don't think his scenes were that funny. Not as funny as how he humps Harold's driver's seat in the first film.

Again, this film really is just a series of gags and racial commentary from start to finish and this time with more boobage. The love story is the icing on the cake which made me enjoy this film more than the first. Not all the scenes were good though, I didn't really find the George Bush scene that funny, but I guess it was written as a device to get keep the story going.

So the writers and directors, Hurwitz and Schlossberg, have definitely matured form the first film. At least in their writing, mimicking the Apatow group, IE, 40 yr old virgin, Superbad and Knocked Up, has given the characters more depth instead of just randomness.

This film, I would say, has grown from Family Guy to South Park quality. Harold and Kumar are will probably be memorable characters in film history. Whether or not they will make a third movie remains to be seen. The ending closes up nicely, but seeing that they made over $14Mill in their first weekend might say otherwise...

3.5/5