Holy crap, I haven’t seen such a great follow up since well… forever; Well OK, Spiderman II was the bees, but this is a follow up to one of the all time cult classic movies. I don’t think I could think of a bigger gamble then pulling of a sequel to such a famous film, and not turning it into some hideous monster rail crash. Kevin Smith, you FUCKIN’ GOD!
Of course Dante and Randall are back, as are the eponymous Jay and Silent Bob. This time the action has moved from Dante’s shop to Mooby’s, a fast food joint that I am pretty sure was featured in ‘Dogma’. Mooby’s is almost unnecessary as again the dialogue takes centre stage and you begin to forget about the backdrop.
Smith still hasn’t lost his grip on that simple effective dialogue that seems to say nothing but carries you along for the ride. It suits his characters down to the ground and it’s as if we never left Dante and Randall.
It must be the way Smith rights, but Clerks II could easily have been shot a couple of days after they wrapped up the first one. It might just be me, finding Jersey particularly romantic but the camera shots and characters are very, very poignant. Flat roofed squat grey shops, wrapped up in wrinkly concrete skin, cinematically Clerks II still grips tightly that feeling of loss and small town hopelessness. A reflection the pointlessness of their wasted lives the Jersey backdrop gets me every time. Mostly because in a strange way it reminds me of Pembrokeshire, which on the whole sucks your soul out and staples it to a wall.
To say the film is funny comes short of its pure genius. I’m not a big fan of Jay and Silent Bob (not being a stoner) but without a doubt this is their finest moment (OK, OK Mallrats was the biz too). Just wait for "Goodbye Horses" by Q. Lazzarus and you’ll see what I mean. Apparently a film critic walked out of the screening when it came to a part about bestiality and anything that will do that to a film critic is something I want to see!
Needless to say, watch ‘Clerks’ before you watch this film. You might even want to watch the other Smith films to give context and because they will I can guarantee you be some of the funniest films you’ve seen, bar none. If you want more information on ‘Clerks II’ check out the Wikipedia entry.
If you are wondering about the image below it’s another still from Spiderman III, and what’s that? Yes it’s fuckin’ Spawn kickin’ ass assimilating people n’ shit. Oh my god, my pants need cleaning Gran’ma!
