Category Archives: Comedy Reviews

Jan 6 2012

Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantonamo Bay

Viewed – 06 January 2012  Blu-ray

Harold & Kumar first hit our screens in the very enjoyable buddy comedy Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (aka Harold & Kumar Get The Munchies), which if I recall correctly pitted a very likable duo, the straight-laced office clerk Harold (John Cho) and stoner best bud Kumar (Kal Penn) as they go from mad cap escapade to madcap escapade in search of the perfect burger.  This follow-up however has a broader focus and in my opinion is better put together, with the two friends being mistaken for terrorists on route to Amsterdam, and from then on things just get crazier and crazier.

Kal Penn & John Cho are for me at least, one of the best double acts in recent memory, with Pen causing the most trouble and getting all the best lines, whilst Cho struggles to get them both out of increasingly ridiculous situations.  This movie really got me laughing, and when it comes to comedy, my funny bone is certainly tickled by the more juvenile and down right crude type it seems, including fart jokes, drug-fuelled dream sequences, nudity, penis jokes and just plain ‘oh my god I don’t believe what just happened’, including a very funny cameo by a look-a-like George W Bush.  Also the racial-ignorance nods are spot on.

Any fan of movies such as American Pie, The Hangover etc will soak this up like a sponge, and considering that Harold & Kumar aren’t even that famous across the pond here in the UK … this comes highly recommended.

Verdict:  4 /5

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Jan 4 2012

Ice Age

Viewed – 03 January 2011  DVD

I’ll admit it.  I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to some animated movies.  At one stage when considering CGI-based animated fair, if wasn’t by Pixar (Toy Story, Monsters Inc), I would turn my nose up.  Despicable Me proved me wrong however, and so … very late to this one, we have a movie set at the dawn of a very cold winter.

The first thing I noticed was how uninspiring the animation style was, with the characters and scenery all having a plastic-like look to them.  Not the best first impressions, but then the story, that of a Sloth, a Sabre Tooth Tiger and a Mammoth who find a human boy and choose to take him back to his tribe, gradually began to pull me in.  You see, the boy was taken from his tribe by his mother fleeing a Sabre Tooth Tiger attack, and when the Mammoth and co find him, the Sabre Tooth secretly plots to lead them into a trap.  The Sloth was the comedy fodder here, and the different perils the group faced during their journey were certainly entertaining.  Yet the movie’s gentle tone felt a touch too ‘safe’ for me, and it wasn’t exactly laugh-out-loud funny (unless you’re three).  The plot also was nothing particularly different, but I did like how things came together at the end, with some nice twists.

As part of an ongoing franchise, I liked the characters and setting enough to want to check out the sequels … so that can’t be bad.

Verdict:  3 /5

Jan 2 2012

The Other Guys

Viewed – 01 January 2012  Blu-ray

As my first movie viewing of the year, a comedy seemed as good a choice as any, and having recently enjoyed Elf, seeking out something else starring comedy actor Will Ferrell was an enticing prospect.  Here he is paired with normally serious actor Mark Wahlberg as one part of a cop partnership who never see the outside of the office, mainly because hot-shot super cops Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne ‘the rock’ Johnson get all the limelight.  Yet when tragedy strikes, Wahlberg see’s it as his opportunity to be the hero, having languished in obscurity following his own fall from grace after accidentally shooting a football star.

Will Ferrell is naturally the comedy sidekick here, and is likable and at times quite funny.  Mark Wahlberg looks much more out-of-place however and is not a natural fit for comedy hijinks.  The biggest problem here though is not its cast, but the writing and dialogue, with a main plot so convoluted as to become uninteresting very quickly (with a pointless Steve Coogan), and a gag-quota so hit and miss (mostly miss) that for the most part, the movie looks like its struggling to be funny – with a few too many absurd moments that don’t fit in with setting or story (a ballet dancing Wahlberg?).  Thankfully some of the action is fairly well done and the movie is quite stylish.  Ferrell as expected is enjoyable despite the poor material which says a lot for the actor, but Wahlberg really doesn’t belong here.

Perhaps not the best choice for first viewing of 2012 then.  Ah well.

Verdict:  2 /5

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Dec 21 2011

Elf

Viewed – 21 December 2011  Blu-ray

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a Christmas movie.  Last year was a bit of a let down (cough, A Christmas Carol, cough), but this year I was borrowed this much-loved movie starring comedy star Will Ferrell.  Telling the tale of a baby who when Santa visited an orphanage, snook into his sack, and it wasn’t until Santa returned to the North Pole that he discovered he had a stowaway.  Deciding to bring up the human baby amongst the elves in his workshop, after 30 years, Poppa Elf realises that ‘buddy’ the elf should be told the truth, and so sends him to New York to track down his real father, a mean-spirited business man, played by James Caan.

This is thoroughly charming stuff.  At first I found it a touch too kiddie, with its near-cartoon like rendition of the north pole etc, but once events jumped to the big apple, I really began to enjoy myself.  Will Ferrell is clearly a gifted comedy actor, and reminds me of Chevy Chase to a degree, and his slapstick antics and just all round likability, made him very easy to watch.  Supporting Ferrell is James Caan in a role he’s done plenty of times, and doesn’t really deliver anything surprising (what, the mean business man discovers his softer side eventually?  Who didn’t see that coming?!), and love-interest Zooey Deschanel is gorgeous, but offers little more than a pretty face and a good singing voice, with wafer-thin characterisation.

This is clearly Ferrell’s show then, which is no bad thing as he’s often laugh-out-loud funny, with many of the fish-out-of-water situations really hitting my funny bone.  Considering up until now I was feeling a bit bar-humbug, this has got me in the Christmas spirit no end, and at this time of year, who can ask for more?  The ending also, was feel-good heaven.

Verdict:  4 /5

Nov 22 2011

The Lion King

Viewed – 20 November 2011  Blu-ray

Once upon a time, nobody could touch Disney for feature length animation.  In the early nineties, the house of mouse hit several home runs with Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin and this much celebrated classic.  For a long time, The Lion King was my all-time favourite animated movie.  The epic scale, the timeless songs, the beautiful animation, and the emotional, heartfelt storyline that surely means something to anyone who experiences it.  I haven’t seen the movie since the days of VHS, having missed its run on DVD.  So I suppose it was well overdue I check it out in glorious HD.

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