Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Whatever went wrong with Kevin Smith's 1995 film Mallrats has been fixed in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Now in 2001, Kevin Smith devotes ninety-five minutes of film to himself. Any negative reviews you may read are surely written by critics who weren't big fans of Smith's previous efforts (especially Mallrats). J&SBSB is a movie for the View Askew fans. The film contains many references to Clerks (1994), Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), and Dogma (1999) as well as the Clerks comic books and the Jay and Silent Bob comic book, Chasing Dogma, that bridges the gap between Chasing Amy and Dogma (actually, a great deal of the film's road trip comes directly from this book).

J&SBSB (the fifth film in the New Jersey Trilogy, much like The Hitchhiker's Guide five-part trilogy) is filled to the brim with crude humor that usually turns off most movie critics, but it's crude humor with Kevin Smith's familiar wit. It's written for Jason Mewes to really shine in his performance (I never thought I'd say that).

The major part of this film that stood out for me is the craft. The craft?! What the hell could I be talking about? As many know, Kevin Smith's movies are notorious for having almost zero camera moves. This is Kevin Smith's most technically superior film (probably because it's his highest budget). There are camera moves and excellent camera angles. In Smith's last film, Dogma, as well as this one, he utilizes the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Why in the world he feels that he needs to use such scope in these films is beyond me.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is not a "real" movie. Chasing Amy is the closest Smith has come to that. For the View Askew/Kevin Smith fans, this is his best film. It will certainly be interesting to see what kind of movies Smith decides to make now that his New Jersey Trilogy has come to a close and he doesn't have the familiar characters to fall back on.

Kevin Smith proved with J.S.B.S.B. that he is no longer just a glorified independent film maker. In past films, Kevin Smith seemed to have a limited appeal, mostly among arm-chair directors (such as myself)who had become jaded with the Hollywood film industry, but with his slap-stick-like middle finger to the movie industry he seems to have branched out and struck a note with the "MTV audience" (10 to 16 year olds). Smith's grade-school humor, delivered mostly by Jay, is nothing new to previous movies, but with the focus on Jay & Silent Bob this humor became more evident AND more inviting to a younger audience.

Nonetheless, Smith has not alienated his core audience who are, "...over and underweight guys who can't get laid." (See Holden McNeil in "Chasing Amy"). The simple visual affects, as in his past movies, are FAR overshadowed by the fantastic dialogue he writes which has Hollywood stars chomping at the bit to deliver. If anything, the only disappointment was a very thin plot (OK, Mallrats: Had a plot, no one ever said it was a good one). But as he did in Mallrats, for what J.S.B.S.B. is lacking in plot, Smith sure as hell made up for it in laughs.

This movie junkie gives "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" a 9 out of 10.. .let's just hope what Chris Rock says in the movie doesn't come true. See the movie and you'll get what I mean.

While I found this movie amusing, if you haven't seen the entire Kevin Smith cannon, NOTHING is going to make much sense. Ben Affleck as more than one character, Jason Lee as more than one character, and the myriad of cameos from past Smith film characters would be confusing to anyone who doesn't know the history.

A "should see" for Smith fans, but probably not much interest to anyone else.

It's almost impossible to believe that this film is from the self same Kevin Smith who wrote and directed Clerks. Gone is the biting wit and odd charm of that film, and in its place, big-budget pointlessness and a dozen more dick jokes. The many cameo appearances of characters from the other movies which comprise the extended 'New Jersey Trilogy' (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and the woeful Dogma) serve only to remind the viewer just how good - or even average - Smith used to be. Indeed, whatever it was that made his work so individual and enjoyable was clearly lost some time ago.

Directorially, the 'post-modern' elements (several actors playing dual roles) are fairly well-handled, though presumably quite confusing for those who haven't seen earlier entries in the series. Unfortunately, however, Smith's usual lack of visual awareness and style is once more in evidence. In Clerks it didn't matter: the script was so tight that the primitive direction was irrelevant, but here, with hardly any gags hitting the mark (special mention for Mark Hamill's spectacularly unfunny cameo) it's extremely noticeable.

The acting too, is of a poor standard with too many lines and jokes fluffed, though Jason Mewes' usual one-note performance (essentially playing a toned-down version of himself, by all accounts) works well here. All in all, more puerile and less funny than its predecessors, though foul-mouthed children, stoners and idiots may take to it more than most.

''f*ck,f*ck,f*ck'' when these words are said by a two year old version of Jay before the film switches to present day Jay doing his rap(''drinkin beers beers beers,rollin fatties,etc)the tone of the film is firmly set.But did you expect anything else?The heroes of Kevin Smiths Jersey film series finally get the screen time,and sadly the send off,they deserve.This film is JOKES from start to finish,the dialogue is funny and in places very rude, especially from Jay.|The cast is full of brilliantly chosen cameos,featuring many people having a tongue in cheek pop at themselves.The Good Will Hunting 2:Hunting season section shows Ben affleck and Matt Damon can laugh at themselves,which in a film like this they would need to!Jason Mewes is on top form as is Kevin Smith,especially when Bob is finally driven to an uncharacteristic outburst of more than a few words.BOUT TIME!!!The continuity of this in relation to the previous Jay and Silent Bob outings is superb,and although it is a funnier film if you have seen Kevin Smiths other Jersey films,there are still plenty of jokes for the uninitiated.This is mostly down to a fantastic supporting cast of some great comedic performers.Will Ferrells WildLife Marshall is funny as f*ck as Jay would say!The movie is not just full of jokes at previous Jersey films expense,but it takes a few good shots at other films and even the film industry itself...could Movie Poopshoot.com be a reference to IMDb.com?who knows?.The 2 disc DVD is WELL worth getting if you like the movie,the outtakes are worth the money alone.And one particular extra ''Ham Affleck'' is worth checking,with Ben showing his real cheese skills(which he would perfected in Pearl Harbour,only that time he was trying to be serious).Also the introductions to the many deleted scenes are worth watching,with Affleck again taking some lighthearted ripping from Mewes and Smith.LOL.Rude,fun poking,loud and very very funny.....just like Jay.9/10