Merrick here...

I liked the first film and am looking forward to the second, even though I think our reader Stephen is probably correct in his assessment.


Here's Stephen...

Harold and Kumar shocked the world when it didn’t turn out to be the most obvious corporate whoring of a product in Hollywood history. White Castle had its very name in the title and the main characters were off to eat these supposedly delicious burgers. Yet somehow inside of this evil concept we were given a stoner duo that could join the ranks of Cheech and Chong or even Jay and Silent Bob. It even dared to squeeze in a little subversive message about race relations and the pursuit of the American dream.

When we last saw our two heroes, they had just feasted on 30 burgers and Harold was going to follow his newfound ladylove to Amsterdam. The film continues instantly from that every last moment.

After being wrongly imprisoned for being terrorists they escape from Guantanamo and make their way back to the U.S., I can imagine the writers sitting in a room locked away for hours trying to write another movie titled Harold and Kumar go to Amsterdam but for one reason or another it didn’t work or maybe it would be too much like Euro trip, who knows, all we do know is that instead they took a different route to get these two back in a car and on the run towards comedic hilarity with plenty of great moments that I won’t spoil.

Surprisingly the escape from Guantanamo Bay takes all but the first ten minutes of the film - which gives our heroes plenty of time to run from the law, smoke plenty of weed, and run into plenty of weird characters.

I’m pleased to report this sequel should please any fans of the first film. It’s consistently funny all through out. It's a pleasure to once again watch Kal Penn and John Cho play against each other with the same flare that made them such a joy to watch the first time around. Along the way, the writers have scripted quite a number of hit or miss set pieces. Some will feel a little too familiar and it seems like they are just treading a lot of the same old racial jokes such as the scary red neck in the woods gag. This is easily forgiven though when we’re given plenty of random female nudity to keep us distracted when the film slows down for the obligatory plot moments.

Richard Christy does his best to play the evil ignorant white government employee, but so much of it is forced that his best moments are few and far between. Due to popular demand, Neil Patrick Harris returns and does about everything you expect him to do. Unfortunately, a chance to take Doogie on a trip unlike any other (I’ll give you a hint it involves a great white unicorn that appears out of nowhere) is squandered.

Which brings me to my over all problem with the film. It lacks the element of surprise that made so many of the first films jokes so funny. Instead of repeating some of those best moments, they could have created a few more new ones instead.

Harold’s mission to go after Maria is all but lost and unfairly rushed in the last five minutes. These are really all just the typical problems you get with any sequel, so take them as tiny annoyances instead of big problems. They don’t make or break the film, and in the end I loved the first and really liked the second.

Stephen