Clerks II
This movie can pretty much be summed up by Silent Bob's line in the movie: "I've got nothing." Kevin Smith really seems to have nothing. He's been downhill ever since Mallrats (some would argue he's been downhill since the original Clerks even, but I'm willing to give him two quality realeses before his decline). So what's a man to do? Well the typical Hollywood thing of course, bring back an old proven winner and make a sequel/remake. What do we get? Well it's not Clerks, it's not Mallrats, it's not even Chasing Amy. It's more of a Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. By that I mean it's a movie with plenty of (dorky) references, a very crude sense of humor (not always a bad thing), and plenty of minor cameos (Jason Lee, Ben Afleck, Wanda Sykes, etc.). But in a lot of ways this movie doesn't even compare to Strike Back. At least that one had both Luke and Leia.
Actually, it all got me thinking. Is Kevin Smith really that great a writer/director? Or are we all giving him way too much credit based on one great indi film? I'm almost willing to take that route. True, he's not nearly as over-hyped as M. Night (who can be? M. Night only managed about 2/3 of a good movie), but still... How many duds are you allowed before your name is tarnished? But enough on Kevin Smith, let's move onto the actual movie.
What's the same? Two guys working deadend jobs (this time at a fast food joint), Jay and Silent Bob (but not quite the same or as humorous), a great performance by Jeff Anderson, a crude sense of humor. Oh yeah, and Brian O'Halloran still can't act.
What's different? It's in color, Dante likes his job (what?!), nerdy sidekick (Elias), Rosario Dawson (quite possibly the only upgrade), and a completely out of place song and dance number.
Basically it boils down to this: Kevin Smith managed to keep most of the poor things from Clerks, lose the good ones, and drain the charm and soul out of a classic cult film.
RATING: Was worth my half-price matinee price (but not much more), maybe a netflix if you want something stupidly funny.