“Dumb and Dumber” is a popular culture phenomenon.

While doing wonderful at the box office, it did very poorly when it came to critical reviews. Yet, since its release in 1994 it has become a cult classic.

Age does not matter. Everyone knows the lines. Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne will always be America’s favorite idiots.

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That is why “Dumber and Dumber To” (Rated PG-13; 110 min) is such a disappointment to fans of the original.

“Dumber and Dumber To” was directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly and stars Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Rob Riggle and Laurie Holden.

Harry Dunne, played by Jeff Daniels, is in trouble. One of his kidneys is failing and he needs a donor soon. After waking from a 20-year-old joke coma, Lloyd, played by Carrey, joins in a hunt for a kidney. They soon learn Harry has an adult daughter and she could possibly be a candidate for the transplant.

Jennifer Lawrence was a self-proclaimed fan of the original movie. Having sway in Hollywood now, it was not unusual for her to ask for a cameo.

Right before the release of this film, Lawrence used her sway to get the cameo removed. The story behind this was she said her cameo did not fit in the film. This should have been a big indicator of how awful this movie was going to be.

For the most part, this sequel falls under the type that tries to emulate everything from the original. It is almost like these movies are saying, “Hey, remember how amazing we were in the original?” They copy themselves at every chance they get, winking at the audience the entire way.

The problem with this type of sequel is it can mirror the original all it wants, but will never have the same heart. Jokes from the original return, yet they never hit the same marks as before.

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Even when this movie tries to do something different, it misses on many levels. The Farrelly brothers’ directing should take the blame. Since the original, their style changed for the worse. They went from oddball comedy placed into a realistic world to a terrible imitation of the Zucker brothers’ slapstick comedy.

They place Harry and Lloyd into a world of ridiculousness. While the world of everything being slapstick works for movies like “Anchorman,” it ruins the unique characteristics of Harry and Lloyd. The two characters only work if you have people from the normal world thrown off by the almost unreal level of stupidity.

This film does hit on a few levels. To call it a complete waste of time is misleading. Some of the jokes do hit. The return of Carrey and Daniels back to these characters brings something wonderful as well.

This movie is what it is. You pretty much get what this film is going to give you after watching the trailer. Do a few good jokes make a movie viewable? Do not waste full ticket price on this, but seeing a matinee is not the worst decision ever.

Stars: 3 out of 5