Dumb and Dumber To Review

You know what? For a sequel that came out 20 years later from the original, Dumb and Dumber To surprisingly recaptures the tone of the first film exceptionally well. There are moments in this movie where I truly felt as though I was watching extended footage from the first one dragging me back to my childhood of 1994 which is high praise all things considered. Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels return to form with their iconic moronic duo roles, "Harry & Lloyd", and honestly speaking, I completely bought into their reprisal. Now, of course we can't just ignore the big elephant in the room being the reality of age on the two actors considering that these roles existed literally decades ago. 

That sense of age is pretty noticeable when looking at these two in certain scenes, but it does absolutely nothing to their phenomenal character acting. I never felt as though I was watching an older Carey and Daniels attempting to squeeze back into their roles like overweight senior citizens fitting into clothes of their youth. Instead, and fortunately so, it felt more so as if I was watching the older versions of the characters themselves continuing from where they left off in their previous outing. And with that particular key factor in mind, I'd say Dumber and Dumber To is a great accomplishment. 

Not only does Harry and Lloyd feel the same, but the comedic sensibilities from the original movie definitely makes a disgusting and outrageous return (emphasis on outrageous). There are a few classic callbacks to some of Dumber ad Dumber's most legendary scenes including the obnoxious dog car exchanges, the series of ridiculous pranks dished out by both Harry and Lloyd, and the food related gags just to name a few. With a strong dose of nostalgia (and the two leads surprisingly reprising their roles considering their careers since) driving as the core of the film's entertainment value, Dumb and Dumber To feels like a genuine love letter sequel for the fans instead of just simply coming off as a "cash grab" for the studios. 

Aside from Carry and Daniels, the supporting cast does a pretty serviceable job as tools in the movie's arsenal to build up specific gags in the story. However, there is one casting choice that I personally treasured with Dumb and Dumber To now giving me yet another reason to laugh whenever I see Rob Riggle show up in a comedy. I don't know what it is about this actor, but he always ends up snatching some of the best comedic side character roles being thrown into hilarious situations with quotable dialogue. So for them to include such a great talent in their cast, I definitely have to give credit where credit is due (and he does have a few hilarious scenes in the movie worth checking out). 

As for the actual story of the film, I'd say they offered a pretty passable excuse to give our two leads yet another reason to go on a comedic opportunity seeking road trip. The original is popularly known as being one of the best road trip comedies of fall time, so continuing that narrative direction for what is essentially a fan service heavy sequel was a pretty smart move by the Farrelly brothers. Unfortunately, despite having a welcomed deal of fan serving delights and clever enough set up, my issue with the movie overall unfortunately aims towards the actual jokes themselves. Despite its successful nostalgia triggering inserts, it does a poor job at creating new memorable moments worth talking about in the future. 

I honestly didn't remember much coming out of this movie except for maybe a couple of chuckle worthy gags resulting in a tragically "watchable at best" overall experience as opposed to be something more substantially entertaining. I realized that some of the moments where I laughed out was due to seeing Carrey's dynamic facial expressions or some of the more subtle humor that made the first movie enjoyable. However, the individual spotlighted jokes themselves were mostly forgettable which is a shame to say considering the high caliber talent onscreen. As a matter of fact, there were many scenes that felt a little bit forced in its outrageous tone (even for a Dumber and Dumber film) trying its hardest to get a laugh out of the audience. 

There's a fine line between "fun, dumb comedy" which this franchise is known to be and desperate shock value humor which this movie slips in and out of a few times. If the purpose of a comedy is to make the viewer laugh at what they're experiencing onscreen, then I would say that Dumb and Dumber To is mediocre at best due to inconsistent quality humor. That being said, the fact that this came out 20 years after the original and was still able to recapture some of the magic is no easy feat to brush off to the side. As for whether or not I'd recommend checking this out, super fans of the 1994 classic have likely already placed this on their watch list. Newcomers however should seek out the original first to see if the humor works for them. You'll know afterwards if this one is worth your time.

Rating: 6/10