Clerks II

After “Jersey Girl” earned mixed reviews and bombed at the box office, Kevin Smith returns to his roots developing another installment of the View Askewniverse bringing back his old pals in a sequel to “Clerks” & “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” titled, “Clerks II” Released in 2006, (same year Borat came out) the sequel received positive reviews from critics, fans and movie goers alike. Plus, it made money at the box office.

As a fan of Kevin Smith’s work, I’m planning to attend a screening of “Clerks III” with Silent Bob himself hosting the film in Dallas. Due date is November 13th. Got my VIP ticket. As I wait patiently, I wanna share my thoughts on each film set in the View Askewinverse.

It doesn’t matter if SPOILERS are listed. Some of us often bring up Mr. Smith’s work often quoting lines.

Sober & Drunk Qualities

Sober: Brian O’Halloran & Jeff Anderson reprise their roles as Dante & Randal. They both did an excellent job for their respective performances.

Newcomers to the View Askewinverse such as Rosario Dawson & Trevor Fehrman both did a solid job for their respective performances.

Cast Members from previous installments such as Jennifer Schwalbach, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee & Ethan Suplee play different roles.

There are several callbacks to the first film.

Kevin Smith directed and wrote the film. He and his buddy, Jason Mewes reprise their roles as Jay & Silent Bob.

Humor retains Kevin’s signature trademarks ranging from pop culture references, surreal moments, comics, movies, f-bombs and characters bickering at each other.

Set a decade after the first movie, Randal accidently left the coffee pot on causing the Quick Stop to burn. He and Dante now work at Mooby’s. A fast-food restaurant which first appeared in “Dogma.”

Chemistry between Dante & Randal serves as the main highlight. Their friendship moves the story forward.

My favorite part is Randal’s argument with Elias and a customer over which is number one. “Star Wars & Lord of the Rings.” I on the other hand disagree. I think “The Dark Knight Trilogy” is the GOAT. If Kevin wants to revisit the joke in a future movie, I wanna see an argument over the Marvel Cinematic Universe and close-minded filmmakers like Martin Scorsese who thinks Marvel movies are theme park rides.

Randal mentioned going you know what in the mouth. A few years later, Tom Six created “The Human Centipede Trilogy.” One of the nastiest films to ever exist on the planet.

Kevin’s daughter, Harley Quinn Smith makes a brief appearance as a little girl waving at Dante.

As I’ve mentioned on my review of the first movie, Randal is my favorite character. He gets Bonus Points every time he makes me laugh.

I’m gonna give Clerks II credit for introducing me to “Goodbye Horses.” At first, I thought this was a made-up joke. It’s actually a reference to Buffalo Bill’s dance from “The Silence of the Lambs.” Back then, I was 13 or 14. Because I had no knowledge of the aforementioned film. I’m also giving the movie credit for introducing me to King Diamond.

A Plot Twist reveals Becky’s pregnant with Dante’s baby as a result of a causal relationship. A better twist than M. Night Shyamalan’s “Lady in the Water.”

In jail, Jay mentioned the bars should be made in plastic like Magneto’s jail cell in “X2: X-Men United.” Speaking of which, “X-Men: The Last Stand” came out two months before Clerks II.

Thanks to earning leftover cash at the end of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the stoner duo give Dante & Randal money to re-open the Quick Stop in exchange to stay outside 24/7.

The infamous donkey show caused late film critic, Joel Siegel to walk out. Afterwards, Kevin wrote on his blog Joel was unprofessional not watching the entire scene. Thank goodness it was offscreen, only the main characters react in disgust. Look up Kevin’s blog for full details.

Primary Themes are Friendship & Laziness. For a comedy, both of ’em were handled carefully.

If you own a DVD/Blu-Ray copy, Kevin and his crew provide audio commentary looking back at the film.

Drunk: Harvey “Saddam Hussein” Weinstein” serves as a co-executive producer. This is before Kevin severed ties with him for raping countless actresses. Now that he’s in bars, he’s gonna be every inmate’s bitch.

Cinematography can be shaky at times.

The Final Verdict: A-

A near-perfect sequel, Clerks II is another hit from Kevin Smith. If you’re planning to see Clerks III, rewatch all View Askewinverse films just to refresh your memory. I cannot wait for Kevin’s latest film.