WAY underrated
I was expecting to loathe this after all the negative hype and because most modern comedies are gash, it’s only because I watched Dumb & Dumber yesterday and this happened to be on Prime that I even bothered… I was astonished by how good it was.
Carey and Daniels were 100% on form after 20 years, their chemistry had not dented one bit, and they had surprising energy for a couple of 60 year olds. Carey is just as ‘bendy’ as he was in the early 90’s.
The opening ‘prank’ was hilariously fucked up, as was its payoff at the end of the film. The gag rate was relentless, even more so than the first film (and that film was basically saved in the edit - if you’ve ever seen the deleted scenes then you’ll know what I mean, even the Unrated Cut wrecks the film). Sure, not all the gags hit but more than enough did, and I was pleasantly surprised by the utter disregard for political correctness 🤣
The twists and turns of the plot actually worked better than the undercooked kidnapping plot of D&D. There was plenty of fresh stuff, like the awesome motif of the master-of-disguise villain - that was some impressive visual comedy.
Daniels had a good outing this time and they made him the heart of the film, removing his violent streak, while Lloyd’s borderline sociopathy was upgraded. This almost went overboard but they clawed it back at the end with some heartfelt moments of Carey that recalled the touching ‘I’m tired of having nobody’ moment from the first film.
It was a raucous ride that actually had me laugh aloud several times - modern ‘comedies’ rarely even elicit a solitary guffaw these days. To those who hate this film, I’m mystified - what would you have liked to have seen instead? What changes would you make?