Daryl Tay.net

Clerks 2 DVD

You might recall from my review of “Zack And Miri Make A Porno“ that I am quite the fan of Kevin Smith, genius behind “Clerks“, “Dogma“, and “Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back” among others. In many ways, Clerks was the original “Harold And Kumar” to me, so it was interesting to see if Clerks 2 lived up to the original.

In many ways it does. In some, it surpasses it. Viewers of Zack And Miri will know there are some pretty ridiculous scenes in there, and for a non-mainstream movie like Clerks 2, the line is passed even more. (Hint: it involves a donkey).

This isn’t a movie for everyone. I’ll be the first to admit that there isn’t much of a central plot to this. (Well there is, but not in the conventional way). What it really is, is random witty bits of what would happen in everyday life. For example, a debate whether Lord Of The Rings or Star Wars is a better trilogy, and to quote Randall Graves: “There’s only one Return. And it ain’t of the King, it’s of the Jedi“. Damn right.

Elias, Dante, Becky and Randall

I wasn’t sure about the inclusion of Elias as a character of the prominence of Rosario Dawson’s character, Becky in the movie. Clerks was always about Randall and Dante (as well as Jay and Silent Bob) to me, but somehow it worked out. The inclusion of Elias, in particular, really worked for me and I could see that addition really happening between the Clerks, as opposed to someone just thrown in for fun.

While I felt the romance beats in Zack And Miri didn’t entirely work for me, the ones in Clerks 2 somehow worked better. Maybe it’s because Rosario Dawson and Brian O’Halloran are better actors, maybe it’s because Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are too “mainstream” actors to fit such a script. Whatever it is, it works.

Jay And Silent Bob

Of equal importance to the movie, the inclusion of Jay and Silent Bob. (Silent Bob is played by Kevin Smith himself) I view Jay and Silent Bob as the droids (C-3PO and R2D2 from Star Wars) of the Kevin Smith films, primarily because they appear in all of them, thus being the constant. Jason Mewes, as always, pulls off Jay perfectly and I loved the little musical bit which was a throwback to his “song” in Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back.

Of course, if you’ve never been exposed to any of these films, you’re dead lost in my review by now. But have no fear. Watch Clerks, Dogma, Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks the Animated Series and then Clerks 2, and you’ll be fully appreciative then. I have all the DVDs, should you want to borrow them.