|
So
it is difficult to work out what it is about an interracial stoner
couple
that brought out $40M+ of the American viewing public from their pot
fueled havens.
The original tale of Harold
& Kumar Go To White Castle made a minor
dint at the box office just under half a decade ago - but
became an Austin Powers
sized
success on DVD.
And there is little wonder - it is easily one of the
funniest comedies to be released in a very, very long time.
So what do we make of a sequel?
Harold
& Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
kicks off mere moments after the first film ends (much like Quantum of Solace
follows straight on from Casino Royale...
except with less weed) with Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) on
route to Amsterdam for a week of girls ... and weed.
However, things don't quite go as planned while trying to
sneak a "smokeless bong" on board the flight.
Now,
suspected of terrorism, they are forced to run from the law and
try to find a way to prove their innocence.
What follows is yet another
epic road trip throughout the States - proving once again that the only
thing to fear... is Americans.
While
nowhere near as consistent as the first, there are still some A-Grade
laughs delivered throughout Harold & Kumars second cinematic
outing.
From red-necks to unicorns, to a pretty decent George W. Bush
impersonation (although, I still stand by the fact that nothing will
ever be funnier than the man himself), there are enough skit sized comic
adventures to keep proceedings running at a healthy pace.
The real key to Harold
& Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay's
success is by keeping things as familiar as possible, without ever
feeling overtly repetitive - and of course - the return of NPH.
Doogie Howser
takes his time getting on screen, but when he arrives - he delivers the
goods (and the phrase "making my balls wet").
Sadly, any joy given by
the appearance of Neil Patrick Harris is slightly diluted thanks
largely to the fact he has delivered gags 20 times better as the
similarly toned character, Barney, in How I Met Your Mother.
That
said, it's still a pretty solid effort - especially for a sequel - and
this will happily enter the realm of 'drunken classic' in a few years
time like its predecessor.
And how can it not? There is, after all, the
"fisting" of a giant bag of weed.
Let's just hope a third is on it's way, despite what the ending leads
you to believe... DVD EXTRAS
The key to a great cult classic DVD release comes in the form of DVD
extras. So it's good to see there has been no skimping on the extras here.
There
are the usuals in terms of a monster Audio Commentary and Deleted
Scenes - however the real killer here is fake "Bush PSA".
We're gonna miss that guy!
Conclusion:
Movie 75% Extras: 70%
|
