ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

First there was dumb. Then there was dumber. The critics were appalled, audiences were enthralled, and gross out comedy was (re)born.

In 1994, the Farrelly Brothers' IQ-less comedy proved an unlikely smash hit, ringing up almost $250 million around the world. It didn't matter what critics said. "Dumb & Dumber" had its own momentum, tapping into audiences' secret desire to see two men get their tongues stuck on ski ladders, drink urine, and soil themselves silly.

A sequel was inevitable, but it never came. Nine years after the event, here comes "Dumb & Dumberer" with no Farrelly Brothers, no Carrey, no Daniels... just how dumb do they think we are?

It's subtitled "When Harry Met Lloyd", but if this preposterous prequel were being honest, it would have called itself "Cheap, Lazy Cash-In".

Drafting in two unknown TV actors (Eric Christian Olsen, Derek Richardson) to play Lloyd (Carrey's character) and Harry (Daniels' character) as teenagers - at a snip of the price of their older alter egos - "Dumb and Dumberer" time travels back to the duo's high school days, where Lloyd and Harry become best friends in the principal's new 'Special Needs' class. Sounds crass and embarrassing, right? Well, what happens next is beyond description.

Tarnishing the original's status as one of the most influential Hollywood comedies (love it or hate it) of the 90s, "Dumb and Dumberer" is best described as a cinematic black hole - infinite, and terrifying in its sheer emptiness.

We can only assume that the producers' photographs of Eugene Levy, Luis Guzmán, and Mimi Rogers are incredibly incriminating. How else to explain their presence in this shambles? Certainly no pay cheque was worth this stain on their CVs.

Take our advice: the only way to watch this soulless, greedy, and completely unfunny piece of junk is from inside a windowless nuclear shelter, lined with 20ft of concrete, preferably located in the middle of the desert in another solar system. Even then, the comedy fallout is likely to make you feel sick.

Vote with your wallets. Go and see something less dumb and more funnierer instead.