I am proud to say that I was one of the six people who saw the original “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” opening weekend in theaters. After walking out of the theater those four long years ago, I was torn. On the one hand, I had really loved the movie I had just seen: it was fresh, original and hysterical. On the other hand, I knew that it was going to last, at most, another six hours in theaters and promptly fade away into obscurity.

Luckily, I was terribly, terribly wrong. The original Harold and Kumar went on to become a smash hit among the 17-35 demographic and prompted the announcement of the inevitable sequel. Upon that fateful declaration, the worrying began. Was this going to be just another schlock Hollywood sequel pumped out into the bargain bin to cash in on the cult success of the initial film? Were Harold (John Cho) and Kumar’s (Kal Penn) crazy antics going to be glossed into a formulaic snoozefest in the hopes of making a quick buck?

If the four years of production weren’t answer enough, let me go ahead and put aside your fears — “Harold and Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay” is everything Harold and Kumar fans wanted and more.

Set immediately after the conclusion of H&K1, “Escape” sees our two perpetually toasted heroes making their way onto a plane to Amsterdam in order to find Harold’s new love, Maria (Paula Garcés). Things turn south in a hurry for our intrepid heroes as they are mistaken for terrorists and shipped off to Guantanamo Bay. Despite the title, the actual military base has awfully little camera time and the movie instead focuses on the minority duo’s run from the flag-waving law, personified by special agent Ron Fox (Rob Corddry).

If I had to use one word to describe "Harold and Kumar 2," it would be “irreverent.” This movie has a lot of balls, both metaphorically and literally. Yes, at heart it’s a comedy focused on the college demographic with a disproportionate representation of dick, weed and cooter jokes — but it hits on some surprisingly deep and relevant questions. No minority, religion, stereotype or currently sitting president is left untouched as our heroic duo romps across the United States in an effort to clear their names. The overall experience comes off as unexpectedly thoughtful and hilarious at the same time.

The structure of "Harold and Kumar 2" is going to seem terribly familiar — and, well, that’s because it is. Harold and Kumar jump from crazy situation to crazy situation and encounter weird stereotype after weird stereotype, only to constantly find themselves in more trouble than before. The writers didn’t exactly re-invent the wheel here, but it’s not like they needed to in the first place. It worked last time and it works just as well this time.

The story is expanded somewhat by the introduction of Vanessa (Daneel Harris), a love interest from the past for Kumar. While the flashbacks offer a cool little look back into Harold and Kumar’s history, including a fantastic glimpse of emo Harold, the character of Vanessa is poorly fleshed out and feels thrown in just to stretch out the story an extra 20 minutes. The movie does putter out a little bit at the end and the conclusion and epilogue are a bit contrived and empty, but still full of some solid cheap laughs and necessary wrap-up.

"Harold and Kumar 2" delivers exactly what it promises: a carefree and disrespectfully tongue-in-cheek comedy centered around a young core demographic. Bursting at the seams with inappropriate jokes and politically incorrect rhetorical humor, Harold and Kumar also manages to ask some fairly relevant and insightful questions. “Harold and Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay” might not make you go home and contemplate the purpose of your life and existence, but it sure as hell delivers on the laughs in a polished and thoughtful way that makes it well worth a watch.