The introduction of Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) was auspicious, to say the least. In Harold and Kumar go to White Castle this duo liked getting high, and spend a night searching for a White Castle, which is easy enough to understand, even for us west coasters (who likely have better weed, so it’s a break-even). The narrative was non-existent, but that worked for a stoner comedy. Alas, it was a series of set-pieces, with some comic ringers and scenes better than others (I’ll take Fred Willard over two girls making shitting noises any day of the week).

For the Sequel, 2008’s Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, there’s a stronger narrative. On a trip to Amsterdam Harold and Kumar (Cho and Penn, returning) are chasing after Harold’s love Maria (Paula Garces), but Kumar decided to get high on the plane, and Bong sounds a lot like Bomb. Such sends them to Guantanamo, where they have to escape, and find their way to Hewitt, Texas, where Kumar’s lost love Vanessa (Daneel Harris) is about to get married to some douchebag. On the tail of the boys are Ron Fox (Rob Corddry) and a number of Department of Homeland Security agents (including Roger Bart).

It’s amazing what giving a narrative a ticking clock and antagonists does for a narrative. I liked the first film okay, in the sense that it was amiable, but rootless, and I didn’t watch it intoxicated, but the second film improves on the first film by having enough going on storywise to keep things moving. It also has Cho and Penn, who work well together, along with return Neil Patrick Harris as himself, and Christopher Meloni (proven to be a comic genius in Wet Hot American Summer) along with Eddie Kaye Thomas and David Krumoltz. This one lacks as many obvious comic ringers (besides Corddry, Ed Helmes and Missy Pyle), but it’s still a pretty funny piece, and it gives Kumar a more interesting hook. Even though he’s the rapscallion of the two, in this one, he actually has something of a heart, and plans to do something about it.

These films are light but it’s also nice that they get at some sticking concerns about profiling, and racism that make this slightly more socially engaged than, say, Half Baked. It’s not a great film, and there’s still some dead air, but for the most part, the makers learned from the first film and improved.

New Line went all out for the Blu-ray. The film comes in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and in DTS 7.1. The transfer and soundtrack are excellent, though as a comedy, the surround does not get the work out of a more action packed piece. Still, very impressive. But the Blu-ray extras make this a must have. Like Final Destination before it, the film comes with a choose your own adventure version along with the unrated cut of the film (107 min.). In the choose your own adventure, you can change the narrative straight from the beginning and have the boys land in Amsterdam without hassle, or get help from a character who refuses it. In most cases the changes are extensions, and when there’s a major shift, it restarts the feature from where you left off. Most of the extensions are modestly funny, but because of the nature of the feature, they’re fun to explore.

Extras include two commentaries, one with writer/directors Hayden Schlossberg and Jon Hurwitz with Cho and Penn, and the second with the two wrtiter/directors and “The Real Harold Lee and actor James Adomian. The former is fun, but much of the time (as they note) is spent on how cheap it was, while the second is even less informative. “The World of Harold and Kumar” (22 min.) is a making of that’s engaging enough, while there’s also eighteen deleted/alternate takes (19 min.). There’s also Extras (7 min.), which are nine alternate takes and/or fun takes where they just go off in efferent directions for goofs.  There’s also a PSA by the fake George W. Bush (2 min.) suggesting that seeing the film is a good thing, along with A teaser, and two trailers (one red band).