Essays · News

WonderCon 08: Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

John Cho was on hand at WonderCon to talk about the next Harold and Kumar as well as J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek.
By  · Published on February 25th, 2008

The first Harold and Kumar film wasn’t a huge box office hit, but it’s had a fantastic shelf life on DVD. It was funny as hell, unpredictable, and had crazy Neil Patrick Harris in it to boot. The sequel looks to be more of the same on all three counts. It picks up with Harold and Kumar at the airport heading to Amsterdam before being mistaken for terrorists and chased across country. Writer/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg joined star John Cho (he’s the Asian) on stage for the extremely well received and hysterical preview. (Cho said Kal Penn couldn’t be there because he’s in rehab for Quaaludes.)

Before I get to the four scenes that were shown, allow me to share what makes Hurwitz and Schlossberg my new favorite directors. “Everyone’s seen topless pool parties, we’ve wanted to see a bottom-less pool party since we were fourteen years old… We’re extremely proud that our movie has more female frontal nudity than an Hollywood movie we can think of.”

Unfortunately that scene wasn’t one of those previewed, but the crowd wasn’t disappointed. First came a scene of Harold and Kumar at the airport having a fun run-in with TSA. The second found the duo on the plane, with Kumar sharing his new invention, the smokeless bong… much to the chagrin of fellow passengers who believe it to be a bomb. Next was a longer cut of the interrogation scene from the trailer, ending with the pair dropped into Guantanamo Bay prison. Finally, the twosome wanders some woods only to come across a gathering of KKK members in a scene reminiscent of Blazing Saddles. It was all very funny stuff and seems to be another great mix of sex/drugs/racial comedy.

Fans tried to get some Star Trek info from Cho, who’s been cast as Sulu in the upcoming movie, but he wasn’t budging. (Although Hurwitz said that since he doesn’t know JJ Abrams, he could reveal a spoiler… “Sulu speaks with an Australian accent!” He seemed sincere.) Cho was also asked what it’s like to be the face of MILF (a reference to a line from his small role in American Pie) and he said it was a dubious distinction. Quite possibly the funniest movie of the year… and a bottom-less pool party? I’m in!

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay opens April 25th.

Related Topics: ,

Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he's so damn young. He's our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists 'Broadcast News' as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.