As you will see, I have a huge love for cinema. So everytime I see a movie, I intend to review it. I'll just be using your everday grading system. And coincidentally, I saw Harold & Kumar yesterday, so here it is:
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Starring: John Cho, Kal Penn, Rob Corrdry, Neil Patrick Harris, Roger Bart & Daneel Harris
Comedic sequels always seem to follow a formula that never really work today: try to increase the gross out factor at every instance. While Harold & Kumar II does do this, the movie does it so that it doesn't seem like it is forcing it, but more of that in order for the movie to carry on, it needs to.
The plot of the movie is pretty damn wacky, as you'll see Roll-D and Kumar try to explain to their friends: Originally going to Amsterdam so that Harold can chase the girl of his dreams, Kumar brings a "smokeless bong" on board the plane. Because of his ethnicity, most people believe he has a bomb on board. Soon enough, Harold and Kumar are deported to Gitmo to have some "cockmeat sandwiches". They break out, of course, where the plot of the film then changes to Kumar trying to salvage his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, who is getting married to an asshole who has political ties. On the way, Harold and Kumar go to a "bottom-less" party, meet a yuppie redneck couple with an inbred child, run from black people and of course, meet up with the one and only Neil Patrick Harris in the movie's funniest moments.
Rather than spoil the humor of the movie, I will just repeat what I said before: it's all gross-out humor, but the kind of gross-out humor that seems realistic, in a way. But the thing that made the first Harold and Kumar such a laugh out loud success was it's absurdity, not it's gross-out factor. And while the absurd is definitely there, it's dumbed down absurdity. You'll see this with Rob Corrdry characters, a loony government agent who uses racial discrimination to interrogate and who consistently beats down on poor Roger Bart's characer in the name of America. While the socio-political satire is there, it isn't very well done and at times, just becomes stale.
While it does take the whole socio-political subplot to the end, the movie keeps the laughs coming and actually takes the climax of the satire all the way to the president himself. That scene, where Kumar and Harold meet with Dubya himself, is the climax of the film, and does something that I can't think of any movie doing: painting him in a positive light. You actually feel bad for the president as he relates his problems with Kumar, how he wants to "carry on the family legacy" and says that "he's the president, and he doesn't even trust the government." It's perfect satire with character.
All in all, the movie is slightly less humorous than the first one, but it does have it's funny moments. It's funny that stupid frat guys can sit through the movie and laugh, and usually I'll torment the film endlessly for how stupid it is. But this film knows what stupid is, and tries it's damnedest to stray away from that. So while I'll probably give bad reviews to You Don't Mess With The Zohan and Meet Dave (ugh, Eddie Murphy, why?), this is the only consistently funny gross out comedy that you will see this year.
Yet Forgetting Sarah Marshall still can keep it's claim as the funniest comedy of the year, this film is special. It's the stoner flick that everyone will laugh at and you won't feel stupid for it.
TJ's Film Grade: B
Now that I've done my first film review, look out for next week where I will review Iron Man and I might write my all-too positive review for Forgetting Sarah Marshall on here as well.
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