The first in the series, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle was a hoot, two stoners, one sensible and one carefree, who had a series of misadventures as they attempted to get a meal at a burger bar. This time out the friends have other ideas involving a trip to Europe, but as before nothing seems to go as planned.

The film is taken as a real time event following the last movie, so still bearing the markings of that set of mishaps, the friends decide to go to Amsterdam to get very stoned and meet the girl of Harold’s (John Cho) dreams. All is not well however as after a couple of moments of confusion between a ‘bong’ and a ‘bomb’ on the plane as Kumar (Kal Penn) tries to get high whilst up high on the outbound journey, they wind up being interrogated as terrorists by the Homeland Security Agency and sent to Guantanamo Bay.

Being a pair of stoners, it proves an easy feat to escape from the most secure place on Earth, and the pair find themselves a raft back to the USA where they determine (with Kumar’s ulterior motive intact) to seek out an old college friend with government contacts to clear their name. There follows pandemonium, moments of grossed out humour, a party with a difference, more stoner and alcohol moments and an ending with a meeting at the hideout of the chief of chiefs that made me chuckle, even if I think the real chief is dumber than that depicted.

The film is not as good as the White Castle escapade, not due to the main players, because  Penn and Cho have a natural on screen chemistry that works despite the films shortcomings, their non stop banter keeps the overall tempo going, but I laughed less often and less loud. There is a marked loss of the originality of the first outing, the set pieces work but are less effective and the humour feels as though it is over-reaching for the most part.

6.0/10, Still like the characters, and if you did watch and like the first one, you’ll probably like this too, but see the first one if you did not, as that is a classic stoner outing.