This week on Belated Sequels we’re looking at yet another sequel that in my opinion failed miserably to deliver.
Dumb and Dumber To (2014)
Previous Instalment (not including the 2003 prequel): Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Time since last instalment: 20 years.
To be fair, it was always going to be hard to make a sequel that came anywhere near the original.
Dumb and Dumber came out at a time when Jim Carrey was on fire and when good movies were being churned out left right and centre.
Some films, as good as they might be, just came out at the right time (maybe a simpler time?) and as a result now hold a tonne of nostalgic value that gives us that warm fuzzy feeling when we watch them.
For me the 90s was the best! I know everyone says that about the era they grew up in but the 90s had great movies and great music. Sadly I can’t imagine people saying that about this current decade in years to come.😵
The original Dumb and Dumber is hilarious! It has a good story, some great gags, it stars Jim Carrey in his prime and on top of all that it has an excellent soundtrack too! 👌
For my own reasons I gave the 2003 prequel, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd a miss, and from what I’ve heard I was right to do so.
It seems crazy to me that they’d put out a sequel/prequel to a movie that was successful largely due to the actor/actors in it, and not have them return. It was doomed to fail from the start.
I quite often think that the makers of I Am Legend (2007) must be kicking themselves for killing off Will Smith’s character at the end of the movie (in the theatrical release at least).
Apparently they’ve wanted to do a sequel for years but they don’t think it would work without Will Smith.
I’ve digressed but what I’m saying is, a Dumb and Dumber movie without Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels was always gonna be a bad idea.
That said, when they finally did return for their own sequel, it still sucked! 😵
I remember seeing a photo of the two actors on set with a caption confirming they were making a sequel, and as always with these belated sequels I was both excited and nervous. I never expected it to be as good as the original film but I definitely didn’t expect it to be as bad as it turned out to be.
I watched it really wanting to love it (possibly part of the problem) but I just felt a kind of numb/going through the motions/trying to get through it feeling.
It wasn’t particularly funny, the story was a stretch (and kind of creepy) and they re-used a lot of the same jokes. Sure they brought a few of the original characters back like Billy the blind kid (“pretty bird”), as well as introducing some new blood like “Travis (Rob Riggle) and even the legendary Bill Murray as “Ice Pick”, but it just fell totally flat on me.
They even used some of the same songs from the original, which to me seemed like a desperate attempt to re-capture what made the first film so popular.
In all honesty I’ve only seen it once and I do keep toying with the idea of rewatching it with lower expectations. I haven’t done it yet and for the foreseeable future at least I’ll probably save myself a second dose of disappointment.
With an Ace Ventura 3 being talked about (not yet confirmed) I can’t help but worry that if it does happen it’ll be yet another disaster that tarnishes the legacy of the previous two films. Don’t get me wrong, after seeing Jim Carrey in Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and hearing rumours that the writers of that film could write the next Ace Ventura movie, I’m quite hopeful it could be good. I just don’t know if it would work outside of the 1990s...🤔
As for Dumb and Dumber To though, sadly for me, it was not worth the wait. ☹️
What do you think? Let me know below. 👇