A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (Saturday, November 5., 2011) (96)

The good news is that this movie is exactly what it should be and exactly what you'd want it to be. It's totally stupid, pretty fun, simple enough in story and has all the pot and sex jokes you could imagine. The bad news is that it's not much more than that... but why should it be? The general story has Harold and Kumar estranged from one another at the start of the film after they seem to have moved in two different directions. Harold has become a suburban square, living a wonderful yuppie life with a serious banking job and a new dorky best friend. Kumar has recently broken up with his long-time girlfriend and is now smoking weed full time. When Kumar gets a misdelivered package for Harold at his apartment, he goes to return it and hijinks ensue. There's a thing with Harold's father-in-law, amazingly played by Danny Trejo, a thing with having sex with a virgin girl who is the daughter of a Russian mobster and a thing with Neil Patrick Harris, NPH, who is now "out" - but only as a way to get more sex from women who now trust him more. It's all very silly and fun. The 3D is used well here, as an homage to B-movies of the '50s and '60s, where stuff comes flying at you in the audience for no particular reason aside from getting you to say, "woah - cool". I love this franchise, and though this film is not as amazing as the original, it's still very much worth it, if you want to see it.

Stars: 2.5 of 4