Both the best and worst thing about Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is that you get exactly what you expect. In fact, I have almost exactly the same thing to say about this sequel as I wrote concerning the stoner duo's first outing, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. This is mostly a good thing, for I enjoyed the first movie quite a bit, and loved how one of its goals involved skewering ethnic stereotypes. The only comment I'm not able to repeat this time is "I've never seen anything like this."

That element of originality shouldn't be underestimated. Most movies dealing with prejudice and racism are forthright and serious, and they've been that way since the beginning, from Gentleman's Agreement to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner to Crash. They also get criticized for this approach, which comes across as preachy and condescending, and even now much of the critical conversation regarding these movies involves how they become dated. Thus, the first Harold & Kumar was absolutely refreshing -- it simply included the reality of prejudices which comes naturally while living as a minority in America (in particular, as a "model minority"), but it never made a fuss about it. The movie acknowledged this situation, dealt with it humorously, and made viewers aware of these attitudes from the protagonists' viewpoint.

A nice surprise indeed -- and the strategy fit in seamlessly with the movie's other goals, which were to deliver an outrageous stoner movie via Odyssey-style journey, fill the screen with gross-out gags, bring back the old rated-R comedy nudity standard, and generally have an irreverant good time. For Harold & Kumar 2, the goals are all the same, with, of course, the intention of being even more outrageous -- more gross, more nudity, and, yes, more confrontations of stereotypes. Happily, we also get the return of Neil Patrick Harris, playing his movie-version self, curiously still very much into the ladies. The presence of NPH is always worth mentioning.

It's fair to say the movie delivers well on all these fronts, but now things feel a bit more obvious -- less subversive, more spelling out. Not that this method isn't still funny -- it is, but it's also a bit more predictable. For instance, in one scene, our heroes (John Cho as Harold and Kal Penn as Kumar), after being unjustly sent to Gitmo, making an unlikely escape, and finding themselves on the run through America's deep South, happen upon a certain group of people who seem to form a mob when the two have an accident and make a mess. Because of their own racial biases, they get scared and run off, but then it's revealed that the "mob" was just coming along to help. Although it's funny, you can see it coming.

Still, that kind of obviousness works to the movie's advantage in other areas, such as in the character of Ron Fox (Rob Corddry), the evil government agent who pursues terrorists and harbors every ethnic prejudice imaginable. His interrogation scenes are among the film's highlights, as he applies racist techniques to extract information from innocent Indians, Koreans, African-Americans and Jews -- and all of them react to his methods as if he's insane. I think that's the greatest thing about these Harold & Kumar movies. They make stereotyping look  ridiculous. They're saying, by now, if you don't realize America is a land of many different kinds of people, all with common goals (spelled out in these films as a relentless pursuit of happiness, love, general respect, and gratifications both immediate and long-term), then you are ridiculous as well.

(Released by Warner Bros. Pictures and rated "R" for strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, pervasive language and drug use.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.