Harold et Kumar s'évadent de Guantanamo

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.

this sequel to the first Harold and Kumar has some funny moments,but i didn't think it was anywhere near as funny as the first.the good news is that the laughs are full belly laughs,that will leave you crying.the bad news:there aren't very many of them.however,i did find that the story was better and more fleshed out.Rob Corddry is hysterical in his scenes.well most of them anyway.one thing i didn't care for is that there's a scenes which shifts the tone away fro the comedy.i found this inexplicable and also unnecessary.this movie is at least as offensive as the first one,probably more so.if the first one offended you,you'll want to avoid this one.for me,Harold and Kumar 2 is a 6/10

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.

Though sequels usually have a hard time measuring up to the first movie, I was expecting at least a few laughs from 'Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'. I ended up wincing and cringing more than anything. This is among the worst movies of the year that I have seen. Sure I was expecting crudeness and vulgarity but this one reaches a new level and it is more of those things than funny. Add to that, the none-gross or pornographic scenes were plain boring. 'Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay' takes off where 'Harold and Kumar Go To White Palace' end. John Cho and Kal Penn reprise their roles and pretty much walk the same line but I found them less funnier here. Though one good thing that comes out of the film is that it implies how ignorant Americans have become towards other cultures since 9/11 and how they are quick to judge based on stereotype. The only sequences that I found amusing were the airport check-in scene and the sequence in the airbus (with the suspecting old lady). However, this is too bad of a film for me to talk much more about.

Funny and acerbic. H & K open up the whole US experience. If ever a country needed to laugh at itself the US is the hottest candidate. H&K do it in spades. If Germany under Hitler had had these guys - and the same freedom of speech - the second war would never have happened. Or not.

So funny and so biting. If you want a laugh and some good social satire see this movie. If you want to feel comfortable that your leaders are caring for your ass - don't.

I watched it in two parts because it was too full-on and I needed to reflect. Reflection is a luxury. Not a vice. See it.