Post by Dreamchild on Nov 13, 2011 4:30:26 GMT -8
It's a weederful life.
A few years ago, my cousin politely asked me if I could play Santa Claus in his annual Christmas party, for the adorable children, no less his young daughter. I accepted, and below is proof.
Though I admittedly felt warm and proud to dupe those kids to believe in Santa Claus for another few years, my acting wasn't consistent. Whenever a child was on my lap or talked to me, I was jovial, compassionate, and family friendly. But the real fun happened whenever the children was out of earshot, and one of their parents acted cheeky.
Child's Dad: "Hey, Santa! I think Mrs. Claus is hot."
Santa (Me): "Ho, ho, ho! Well, I know where you live, and I know when you're sleeping, so you'd better watch yourself, pal."
Unsurprisingly, moments like that one got the parents chuckling. That example above isn't a funny joke, really, but it still got some laughs. This proves that there's just something inherently funny about Santa Claus acting out of character.
We all know what Christmas is. It's a season that endorses peace on earth and goodwill to men. Despite not celebrating the holiday, I love Christmas and the season. I love (most) Christmas music. I love Christmas trees. I love brightening people's day with a warm and friendly "Merry Christmas" when I buy something at the store. And some of my favorite movies are Christmas-themed.
But, let's be honest, sometimes I just gotta unleash my inner Grinch and watch a 'naughty' holiday film. As my adult-themed jokes while pretending to be Santa Claus convinced me, we all like to see the spirit of Christmas become distorted and screwed up on occasion. Enter A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.
For the uninitiated, Harold & Kumar is a stoner-buddy-comedy film series. Harold Lee (John Cho) is Korean American, and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) is Indian American. They are stoners, but they're not brainless (though Harold is definitely the more rational of the pair). They debuted in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004). The premise of that movie is very simple: Harold & Kumar smoke weed one night, watch a White Castle commercial, and decide to get some burgers. The two drive to the nearest White Castle they can remember, only to find that the establishment has changed business, and that the nearest White Castle is further away. But the two find themselves undergoing an odyssey of ridiculously absurd proportions, each misadventure more outlandish and silly than the last. With such a basic premise, it's a wonder why it's pretty damn funny, and one of my favorite comedies from the 2000's. White Castle could have been just another stoner comedy, but what makes it special is the fact that its two leading characters may smoke joints, but they're not idiots. They're actually likable, and the movie is also an effective satire, parodying the ethnic stereotyping prevalent in our culture. Harold & Kumar are forced to endure flagrant racism and bigotry of a hilariously stupid breadth.
A sequel, Escape from Guantanamo Bay, followed in 2008. This installment is more ambitious, but not quite as hilarious. Harold & Kumar, picking up right where White Castle ended, board a plane, but are soon mistaken for terrorists and sent by an overzealous homeland security officer to Guantanamo Bay. This movie is definitely funny, but it's also preachy at times and has a Kumar-centric love story that feels a bit tacked on. Not to mention, some of the jokes now are already dated, such as the scene where Harold & Kumar share marijuana with then-President Bush. But as far as sequels to stoner comedies go, Guantanamo Bay is still entertaining, and I continue to watch it along with its predecessor.
Not quite your ordinary wooden soldiers.
We are now three installments in. I just came back from A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, the first movie in the series to be 3D. Is it funnier than the previous installments? No, I don't think so, but I still enjoyed myself. Each installment has a different tone, really. The first is silly and fun. The sequel is, too, but it's more politically-charged and a bit more conventional Hollywood. 3D Christmas also has a Hollywood vibe, but, more than ever before, this movie focuses on the heart of the titular characters' relationship...
... which is nonexistent in the first act. The movie begins six years after Guantanamo Bay. Harold, now a Wall Street hotshot, is happily married to his sweetheart. Kumar is still, well, Kumar, spending his days on the couch, smoking cannabis and watching TV. Kumar has been dumped by his girlfriend, who reveals that she is pregnant and sick of his wandering, unmotivated lifestyle. But the biggest bummer is more surprising: it's revealed that Harold & Kumar have gone their separate ways, having suffered a big falling out sometime prior.
I wish I could use different screencaps besides this damn wooden soldier scene, but there's literally nothing else to use!
But, hey! It's Christmas, a time for reconciliations. 3D Christmas starts amusingly enough, with Kumar buying weed from a mall Santa (Patton Oswalt--better known to Disney fans as Remy from Ratatouille--in a funny cameo) and puffing smoke all over, with a warm choir singing "Joy to the World" in the background. This sets the tone for the movie: it's a naughty Christmas film that somehow manages to bear the holiday spirit. I don't wish to spoil any major scenarios, but I will say that a mysterious package brings the two estranged men back together.
A lot of people, especially here in Fantasmic Dreams, hate the 3D gimmick vehemently. Well, those people are bound to be pissed off by this movie, because 3D Christmas doesn't care about what you think. It even acknowledges this in a scene. "I dunno; hasn't the whole 3D thing jumped the shark by now?" Harold asks another character. "You don't understand," replies the other character. "It's going to be AMAZING!" This character then points directly to the audience (with his fingertips just in front of your eyeballs), until a confused Harold asks, "Who are you talking to?"
I also think that 3D Christmas parodies the whole gimmick in general, with its frequent use of the effects in ridiculous ways. There are a lot of gratuitous 3D shots, but the movie doesn't care. It just sets out to be an R-rated comedy with flashy and dazzling (and often gross) 3D effects. And the effects truly are impressive, maybe even to non-believers. I'll be honest, I think the 3D affects in Christmas are the best I've ever seen in a movie in a long time. When Kumar blows smoke all over, it really does look like his smoke is filling the auditorium and hazing the screen. Eggs are hurled close to your face. You'll swear that a ping pong ball has just whizzed by your head. But my favorite 3D effect, by far, is when Harold & Kumar dodge bullets that explode bags of cocaine. This results in the cocaine dancing gracefully and beautifully in the air, in slow motion, hilariously set to the song--what else?--"White Christmas." To this end the movie succeeds by leaps and bounds. But that's also the film's big drawback: I would imagine that this movie is considerably less enjoyable without the amazing 3D effects.
Wafflebot is the best new character in the franchise. I sincerely hope a toy version of this guy becomes available for real. I would so buy one.
The never not-awesome Neil Patrick Harris is one of the franchise's recurring--and favorite--characters. Yes, that's really NPH playing a fictionalized version of himself. His role in 3D Christmas is the smallest the franchise has seen thus far, but Harris is still dependable for enjoyment. He even gets to sing a medley of Christmas songs with (erotic) dancing girls. Seriously, is there anything this guy can't do?
Neil Patrick Harris has a short but high-spirited appearance.
Unfortunately, not all is merry in this film. As I said earlier, this movie isn't as funny as the two previous installments. That's not to say that Christmas isn't without big laughs. There are quite a few laugh out loud moments, but the consistency is much worse in this movie than the last two. The Harold & Kumar series has always been hit-or-miss, but this is the movie where I could be silent for minutes on end without so much as chuckling. Though the movie title scene is funny, this movie takes a while to gain a consistent momentum. Not until Harold & Kumar begin to search for a replacement Christmas tree for Harold's overbearing and racist father-in-law (Danny Trejo) does the movie start to become consistently entertaining.
You're probably wondering, "If this movie isn't as funny as the others, then why are you giving this three stars out of four?" It's not because of the 3D effects alone (amazing as they are). This movie isn't as consistently funny as White Castle, or even Escape From Guantanamo Bay, but it's definitely sweeter. This movie has some surprisingly heartwarming scenes that don't feel tacked on like they did in Guantanamo Bay. This is a story about Harold & Kumar rediscovering their friendship. It's about them rediscovering why their relationship, with all of its friction and (hilariously) frustrating misadventures, is a very strong and benevolent one. This movie explores the tenderer side of the stoners, and that genuine sweetness is what surprised me, and touched me.
Make no mistake, though. This movie might be sweet and good natured, but it's still Harold & Kumar, and it's still for adults only. There's a claymation scene that spoofs Rankin/Bass classics with profane song lyrics and ludicrous nudity. A female toddler (accidentally) gets high on marijuana, cocaine and, eventually, ecstasy. A Christmas Story is referenced when Harold gets stuck to a frozen pole... but it's not his tongue that's stuck. This is a very raunchy, dirty, perverted Christmas movie.
And it's that yuletide perverseness that pleases me, frankly. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is not a modern holiday classic, but it doesn't pretend to be. It's just a fun, merry stoner-buddy-comedy taking place on Christmas Eve. It's not as consistently funny as the previous movies in the series, and it absolutely must be watched in 3D or not at all. It also goes without saying that you really need to be a fan of Harold & Kumar and/or the stoner-comedy genre to appreciate 3D Christmas. I don't think this movie will become an annual Christmas tradition for me, but I did enjoy my time. I didn't laugh as much as I wanted to, regrettably, but the movie did touch my heart with its surprising goodwill and sweetness. Plus, Wafflebot is simply too awesome and adorable. If Wafflebot does not become actual merchandise, there will seriously be no hope left in the world.
A Very 3D Christmas may not be Harold & Kumar's finest outing, but it's a holiday film that left me warm, merry, and a bit grossed out. And, in the end, that's good enough for me.
Merry reefers to all, and to all a good light.
*** out of ****