Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Movie Review: Harold and Kumar, Escape from Guantanamo Bay

Please be warned, there are some spoilers ahead.


After watching the first Harold and Kumar, the second one didn't quite lived up to it's expectations. The acting was good, the girls were hot, the idea was there, but I felt the execution wasn't right. There were racial and religious issues that were portrayed in the movie that I think some of the audience in the cinema didn't find it funny or just couldn't understand it.


A brief storyline


The movie started out well, with the two of them packing up getting ready to go to Amsterdam. It was a fun introduction seeing how each of them got ready. You'd see Harold's room all clean and tidy, and Kumar's room is a direct opposite. The funny part comes when Kumar does a quick jack off before they depart, spurting all over himself.

So on to the airport. After going through the security check, was asked to move to the side for a security check. As usual, Kumar made it difficult for the security man to do a body check saying that it was all racial profiling. The security man looks at him and says, "Dude, I'm black!". Of course, Kumar with his intelligence starts to mock him at how he doesn't look black at all. A small argument ensues and Harold was in between them trying his best not to get the whole matter out of hand. But again, somehow Kumar manages to convince the head security(who came soon after) to let him off.

Coincidentally, they met Kumar's ex-girlfriend who, to Kumar's surprise, is getting married. She was to wed to a man Kumar hated but Harold likes the man because he was the one who got for him a job after school. Kumar's feelings with his ex-gf rekindled and seeing how she doesn't like the man she was going to marry, he felt he needed to do something about it.

Anyway, they parted and off to their respective planes. On flight is where the real trouble begins. Kumar, with his ingenuity, created a smokeless "Bong" (which looked like a enclosed penis pump) and showed it to Harold while he was taking a piss in the toilet. Harold insisted that he try it when they reach Amsterdam, but Kumar didn't listen to his advice. So he lit it up after Harold left the toilet. But be cause he didn't close the toilet door properly, the whole thing was witnessed by a passenger who then screamed. Kumar went out trying to explain that it was a "Bong" which caused the passengers to panic, thinking it was a "Bomb". The situation didn't help either when Harold got up trying to explain to the the passengers that it was just a "Bong". Both of them were brought down quickly by US Air Marshals who happened to be on the plane. The plane was diverted and they were sent to an interrogation room. The department of Homeland Security was alerted and this is the part where the movie didn't go right.

Ron Foxx, the man in charge of Homeland Security thought H&K are North Korean and Al-Qaeda operatives. Actually, he is not funny at all, just very irritating. He doesn't seem to listen to his advisers and one of them, Dr. Beecher insisted a few times that they were innocent. But anyhow, H&K was sent to Guantanamo Bay.

The movie didn't go well after that. A lot of questions came to my mind after the movie.


Why I didn't like it so well as the first

What happened to Dr. Beecher after he fell off the plane? The only guy who stood up to claim H&K's innocence. Did he die?

And Niel Patrick Harris dies? Shot at the back by a prostitute. The only really cool dude in the movie dies?! The hero and saviour whenever H&K gets into trouble was shot dead? His death was unjustifiable. If they wanted him to die at least let him die in an cool way. Like, from smoking weed or something.

I know this movie is one of those movies with a silly storyline and funny at the same time. This movie however, was not so funny and the storyline didn't went quite well. I was wondering why it didn't go as well as I expected. It turns out the director was a not the same director as the first movie. Not forgetting the casts were missing veteran comic actors from the first movie like Ryan Reynolds, Fred Willard and Bobby Lee to name a few. Those guys were funny!

Plus, the movie had some slow parts and redundant scenes. Especially the one with the one eyed man in the basement, who looked like a cyclops. What's with that? And why did Red Foxx jumped out of the plane without wearing a parachute? Is the man in charge of Homeland Security that stupid?


Conclusion

It wasn't dumb funny like the first, it was just dumb and not so funny. I expected more since the first one was so hilarious. Just watch it from a rental, not really worth watching this in the cinema.

2.1/5 stars

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