2008 Woodie Awards
Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay
Zach Wingerter
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: The Edge
Everyone's favorite stoners are back for another ridiculous adventure as John Cho and Kal Penn reprise their roles as the title characters in "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."
This time, instead of White Castle, the high-namic duo are in pursuit of another tasty treat: Harold's love interest, Maria, played by Paula Garcés. The movie begins exactly where the first left off, with Harold and Kumar planning to go to Amsterdam to find Maria.
In the airport, Kumar runs into his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa (Danneel Harris), bringing back strong feelings. He also meets her fiancée, Colton (Eric Winter), whom she plans to wed a week later.
The rest of the plot stems from a failed attempt at joining the mile "high" club mid-flight, leading to the mislabeling of Harold and Kumar as terrorists. Rob Corddry of "The Daily Show" absolutely nails his role as a Homeland Security agent. He brings a level of energetic absurdity to an already-wacky character that falls comfortably short of being too over-the-top.
Among the crude laughs and bottomless pool parties, the film carried a political charge with it at times, speaking out about what it means to be an American and also hammering blatantly through racial stereotypes - the latter fueled largely by Corddry's character.
As in the first movie, Cho and Penn click as a pair. The charisma between the two carries the movie along. Neil Patrick Harris tops his appearance as himself in the sequel, scoring much more face time while maintaining the same thirst for drugs and sex.
Other recognizable faces pop up throughout, including Beverly D'Angelo as the leader of a whorehouse, Christopher Meloni as the Grand Wizard of the KKK and Ed Helms in a funny scene as a translator.
You probably will not enjoy the movie if you're expecting a "Citizen Kane" experience, but then again, you probably wouldn't enjoy "Citizen Kane" if you were expecting a movie about two pot-wielding minorities. This movie delves into the same gross-out, quick-punch-line humor as the "American Pie" movies, rarely going more than a few minutes without a funny moment.
Compared to the first movie, "Guantanamo Bay" was as good, if not better. The storyline was tighter and more fluid while remaining completely outrageous. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5 on a warped scale biased toward shallow, fun comedies.
This time, instead of White Castle, the high-namic duo are in pursuit of another tasty treat: Harold's love interest, Maria, played by Paula Garcés. The movie begins exactly where the first left off, with Harold and Kumar planning to go to Amsterdam to find Maria.
In the airport, Kumar runs into his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa (Danneel Harris), bringing back strong feelings. He also meets her fiancée, Colton (Eric Winter), whom she plans to wed a week later.
The rest of the plot stems from a failed attempt at joining the mile "high" club mid-flight, leading to the mislabeling of Harold and Kumar as terrorists. Rob Corddry of "The Daily Show" absolutely nails his role as a Homeland Security agent. He brings a level of energetic absurdity to an already-wacky character that falls comfortably short of being too over-the-top.
Among the crude laughs and bottomless pool parties, the film carried a political charge with it at times, speaking out about what it means to be an American and also hammering blatantly through racial stereotypes - the latter fueled largely by Corddry's character.
As in the first movie, Cho and Penn click as a pair. The charisma between the two carries the movie along. Neil Patrick Harris tops his appearance as himself in the sequel, scoring much more face time while maintaining the same thirst for drugs and sex.
Other recognizable faces pop up throughout, including Beverly D'Angelo as the leader of a whorehouse, Christopher Meloni as the Grand Wizard of the KKK and Ed Helms in a funny scene as a translator.
You probably will not enjoy the movie if you're expecting a "Citizen Kane" experience, but then again, you probably wouldn't enjoy "Citizen Kane" if you were expecting a movie about two pot-wielding minorities. This movie delves into the same gross-out, quick-punch-line humor as the "American Pie" movies, rarely going more than a few minutes without a funny moment.
Compared to the first movie, "Guantanamo Bay" was as good, if not better. The storyline was tighter and more fluid while remaining completely outrageous. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5 on a warped scale biased toward shallow, fun comedies.
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