Clerks II

Clerks II

Even though Kevin Smith said he was done with the whole Jay and Silent Bob universe, he seems to have changed his mind. Despite my apprehension, I was pleasantly surprised with how well Clerks works. This movie, in a lot of ways, is actually superior to the first one. The jokes are dirtier and acting much better.

Yet, what really keeps this movie from being just another raunchy comedy is the very serious character arcs the main guys go through in this story. Unlike the pointless dialogue rants in the first one, this one does in fact have a plot. Like many kids in the 80s, we spent a little too much time playing videogames and watching movies to realize we were getting older. In a way, it is in this movie that Randal Graves and Dante Hicks have to come to face the fact that they’re not teenagers anymore. Toward the end of the film, watch Jeff Anderson give a great performance in one of the more serious scenes in the film. (There’s another nice scene when a successful high school classmate insults Graves and Hicks).

Jay and Silent Bob have a larger role in this one than the first one. And there’s a newcomer in the series: a Transformer/Lord of the Ring/Christian Freak/Virgin kid by the name of Elias. This kid steals the show. There is also a very funny bit with Randal bashing the entire Lord of the Rings series.

Rosario Dawson plays a very sweet woman that Dante Hicks still has feelings for. This woman is very hot and charming at the same time. Hell, she’s the kind of woman guys want as girlfriends.

In the end, it’s a very dirty movie with a lot of heart. Kevin Smith wrote a very touching movie.

Grade B+