Trying to do an honest review of A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas is difficult, because I feel like they’re dropped any and all pretense of trying to make a ‘good’ film and went straight for the exploitation of 3D and-weed humor. That doesn’t necessarily make it bad though, and I’m pleased to say I laughed quite a bit at this film. I was wondering throughout how far over the top they were willing to go, and the question was answered for me about three-quarters of the way through when Santa Claus fell out of the sky. This is a movie that doesn’t even take itself seriously as a comedy. I wouldn’t have expected any more from a movie that begins with 3D pot smoke being blown into your face by Kal Penn and Patton Oswalt as a mall santa.
The movie opens with best friends Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) having separated, now living independent lives for the past few years and no longer on speaking terms. Kumar is still irresponsible and smoking weed at every opportunity while Harold, now married, is struggling to impress his intimidating father-in-law (Danny Trejo) who is visiting for Christmas. A giant blunt arrives in the mail for Harold at Kumar’s apartment which inadvertently brings the two back together. All of this “plot” feels like a thinly veiled excuse to get to the high-times and chase scenes—one of which is in trippy claymation. This would have impressed me if Community hadn’t already done it better last year.
It’s interesting that they decided to go for 3D in this film thinking that would give them the edge over other Christmas comedies. The “mockery” of 3D has been done before in full genital-swinging glory in Jackass 3D and I feel like this movie adds nothing new to that formula except splashing the audience in digital cocaine. There’s a scene toward the beginning where Harold is telling his secretary how 3D is getting to be a tired concept. Just like I found problems with the meta humor in Scream 4, I don’t find it funny when a movie calls attention to its own shortcomings. It’s like you’re showing the audience that you’re partaking in a cliché, but you don’t care that you’re doing it. This kind of thing is better saved for television.
Where the movie really shines is in the mandatory scene with renowned Broadway actor Neil Patrick Harris. He appeared in the previous Harold and Kumar films incidentally as well, though I feel like he’s even funnier in this one since the release of the previous films he’s grown in fame and celebrity status. Though he’s gay in real life, Patrick Harris, who plays himself in the film, turns out to be a perverted womanizer who uses the “gay trick” as a front for caressing women in his Broadway dressing room. This was easily the funniest scene of the film and an example of meta humor working well.
I laughed at a lot of this movie, which I guess is the best way to truly judge a comedy, rather than on the level of a truly good and cohesive work of cinema. There have been some comedies that do both though, like recent Apatow vehicles. I think my biggest problem here is that A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas brings nothing new to the table. Then again, I don’t think it ever tried to. The most innovative thing to come out of the movie is Wafflebot, the Christmas toy of the year in the fictional Harold and Kumar-verse. Wafflebot is a stout, fiercely loyal and outspoken waffle-cooking robot and fills the sidekick role in the film. It feels very Harold and Kumar, as does the whole movie. At least we can’t say it’s not as good as the previous films. The legacy of the stoner trilogy remains in intact and you can’t help but feel the Christmas spirit as Wafflebot reminds us “pancakes are f-ing gay.”
No comments:
Post a Comment