My colleague, “Good Morning America” critic Joel Siegel, gave Kevin Smith’s sequel more publicity than it deserves when he stomped out of a preview screening in disgust.

“Clerks II” begins with aging, aimless slackers Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) still living a minimal existence on minimum wage, not much different than when we left them in 1994, except that they now work at Mooby’s Fast Food. Dante is engaged to Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach, Kevin Smith’s real-life wife) and plans to move from New Jersey to Florida, while Randal wants to maintain the status quo, as does their boss Becky (Rosario Dawson). Then there’s 19 year-old virginal Elias (Trevor Fehrman) who’s still heavily into “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Meanwhile, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) loiter outside the burger joint, selling weed and delivering crude running commentary about life in general. Their vile, vulgar ruminations are rife with racial slurs, cripple jokes and repulsive stories about bestiality (a donkey reference is what jolted Joel out of his seat and into the aisle).

A former employee of Domino’s Pizza, writer/director Kevin Smith continues to mine that experience, along with a gig as a video rental and convenience shop clerk. On his 21st birthday, he saw Richard Linklater’s “Slacker” and, apparently, never got over it, since the original “Clerks” opened just as the idlers of Generation X were looking for a geeky voice to call their own. What’s sad is that not much has changed during the intervening decade. No growth. No knowledge. No wealth of experience. It’s all just the same, despite Ben Affleck, Wanda Sykes and Jason Lee cameos.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Clerks II” is a tasteless, toxic 2. For this you’d pay admission?