Review of A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011) by Ian B — 24 Jun 2012

Harold and Kumar's Christmas Decks the Halls.

This may shock my regular reading audience, but I am, on occasion, a 23- year-old college-aged man. And as such, sometimes, and I do stress sometimes, movies aimed squarely at my demographic do appeal to me. I realize that other people who read my column may not feel this way about those films.

The "Harold and Kumar" series has always been one of those rarities that gets around my guard. That being said, I think this speaks to the overall quality of the films themselves more than just sheer random chance that I simply saw it at the right time or other such nonsense.

I'm not going to argue that these movies have changed the course of cinema, or anything so drastic. But they are very, very good at what they do and unlike so many other movies, are exactly what they promise to be. I had a genuinely good time at this movie, as it was truly refreshing to see a film that used the 3D gimmick for what it was originally made.

The story of our slacker heroes continues several years after the events of the last film. The series has, in fact, moved up to contemporary times. The second film, "Escape from Guantanamo Bay," actually took place directly after the first film, even though it was made several years later.

In any case, in the years between the stories the titular Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) have grown apart. Harold is now a successful businessman married to his girlfriend, Maria, from the previous movies. His only problems are being accosted by Occupy Wall Street mobs and trying to impress his aloof father-in-law.

Kumar, on the other hand, has fallen into a depression after his girlfriend, (also from the previous film) left him and has since been living in squalor. After a mysterious package brings the separated duo back together, a disaster results: the Harold's father-in-law's prized Christmas tree is destroyed. In true buddy comedy fashion, the two venture into New York to find a replacement. You know what comes next. Hijinks ensue.

Those of you familiar with the series' madcap humor and ridiculous scenarios will not be disappointed here. The duo is chased by Russian gangsters, gain a faithful, sentient waffle-making robot (one of the highlights,) somehow perform in a Broadway-esqe Christmas review, and even spend some time in Claymation due to some particularly potent drugs. There is also, of course, the now customary appearance of Neil Patrick Harris as himself, which never fails to impress.

John Cho and Kal Penn's chemistry has always been apparent in these films, and the duo continues to work well together. Newcomers Thomas Lennon, as Harold's new white-collar friend and Danny Trejo, as Maria's father, also are very welcome and hilarious additions to the cast.

As I said, the 3D effects in this film take the fun approach, with objects flying at the audience from the screen. This film uses 3D as an entertainment tool rather than just adding depth. Of course, with a comedy what else would you expect? Where else would you expect to see raw eggs to fly at your face, body parts poke raucously toward the screen, and clouds of smoke waft across the theater in amazing realism? It does serve as a reminder of how 3D should be used, however, while poking fun at its super-saturation within the industry.

This film, like all "Harold and Kumar" movies, is one of those movies you know if you're going to like or not right out of the gate. If you enjoyed the other two films, then you're really going to like this one. If you're a fan of the stoner or slacker genre, obviously this will be for you. This isn't a family film, but again, that much is obvious. This movie does everything it sets out to do, and it does it very well. I find that Harold and Kumar have not overstayed their welcome in the world of cinema. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Grade: B+.

Entertainment Value: 9.