Clerks II

This movie is fuckin' awesome. I enjoyed every minute of it. Well, actually, that's not true. The ending had me thinking "Why Kevin Smith?". That was, until I watched it a second time and realized how great it works---how it fits in with the entire movie.

The establishing shot of the movie begins in black and white, a nostalgic touch that had me smiling. The Quick Stop catches on fire and Randal and Dante have to decide what to do now that the place they have worked in for a decade has burned down. Without much ado, they are off to Mooby's, a fast food restaurant where they are now fast food clerks. Also, about 15 minutes into the movie we find out that Dante is going to marry Emma and move to Florida essentially leaving best friend Randal behind. From there, the day's events ensue.

Unlike Clerks I, there are really aren't any guidance counselors who do weird shit with eggs, no older guy walking in to use the bathroom without the light on and asking for porn to read while in the bathroom, nobody like the Chewlie's representative, and also no milk lady. But I guess there is something to be said that there is less that can be done with fast food when compared to a quick stop. Anyways, there still are those side characters that a jolt of humor to the flick. The Hobbit Lover, Sexy Stud, and Earthquake & Wanda Sykes add nice touches to the storyline. The LOTR vs. Star Wars scene is genius.

I was delighted to see Jason Lee appear as Picklefucker or Lance Dowds. And there is a brief appearance by Ben Affleck who is a member of the View Askew gang.

While the characters from the original cast could have done just as well without any others, Kevin Smith adds Elias and Becky as main characters. Elias is a Jesus-lovin' good-Christian who loves Transformers and don't forget his email address is Optimus Prime. Becky is a good addition to the cast as she adds to the romantic story of Dante in this movie by creating a love triangle between Emma and Dante and Becky.

I cannot forget Jay & Silent Bob. The two are "new & improved" in this movie. Jay has a dance for "Goodbye, Horses" and Silent Bob is always going for his boombox so Jay can "twelvestep". The two are essential to View Askew movies. Without them, it would be like removing R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars.



I give this a 9/10

(I can't rate it higher than Clerks I) and highly recommend it. But please see Clerks I first. Or for that matter, all previous Kevin Smith films. Without viewing them, you can't possibly enjoy Clerks II as much as I did.