by Thomas Ferguson

Word of mouth is a powerful thing in the movie industry.  Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle was not a hit when it made its screen debut in 2004. Fortunately, word of mouth made it a cult hit on DVD. I’m one of those fans and I am so excited to see my loveable stoners back in Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

Picking up where the last one left off, Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) are on their way to Amsterdam (“The weed capital of the world”) to get high and to find Harold’s new love Maria (Paula Garces). Unfortunately,their plans are derailed when they are mistaken for terrorists on the plane and taken to a prison in — you guessed it — Guantanamo Bay.

As the title suggests, they escape, making it back to the states where they go on the run, getting into all kinds of trouble along the way. They believe Kumar’s ex-girlfriend Vanessa (Danneel Harris) and her questionable politician boyfriend Colton (Eric Winter) know the right people to contact to clear their names.

Time is of the essence as Ron Fox (Rob Corddry), a rep for the Department of Homeland Security, is hot on their trail. Fox is trying to make an example of them, and, at the same time, trying to show the country that his department knows what they are doing (even though it’s obvious they don’t have a clue in this instance).

If you liked the first film, you’ll love this one. It’s full of the same spirit and crass humor that made the original so much fun. They amped up the raunchy humor and turned our president into a ragging pothead — talk about funny! There is also another memorable appearance by Neil Patrick Harris of Doogie Howser  and How I Met Your Mother fame.

I was a bit concerned at first. The beginning was only moderately funny and I feared this would be another one to go into the “sequel that shouldn’t have been made” file. Luckily, it quickly redeemed itself and played out well. It’s the most politically incorrect movie I’ve seen in quite sometime.

Caution: Go into this movie with an open mind. Just about every ethnicity and lifestyle is mocked.

 It’s not a perfect comedy, but one I highly recommend.