derrickneal-98015
Jay and Silent Bob strike back is the story of best friends Jay and Silent Bob and anyone wishing to start with Kevin Smith's filmography should start with this film. It introduces the central character of the Universe and has cameos by almost everyone from other films. Plus a lot more, especially if you love Star Wars. The jokes are funny and the script flows very well. Cameos abound and some like Will Ferrell's ranger had me in stitches. Go see this film now.
GusF
The fifth film in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, this is an absolutely hilarious film which very effectively parodies Hollywood. It tells the story of Jay and Silent Bob's rather eventful trip to Tinseltown to stop the production of the film adaptation of the comic "Bluntman and Chronic" based on their lives. As it was originally going to be the final View Askewniverse film, Smith decided to make his two signature characters the focus of the storyline for the first time. It features numerous references to the earlier films, though only a handful to "Dogma", and includes at least one character (other than the eponymous drug dealers / prophets) from each of them. It does not make any allowances for those who have not seen the first four films and as such it is doubtful that people not familiar with them would be able to fully appreciate it. Smith's writing and direction are both very strong. Rather than dealing with serious topics as was the case with "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma", the film is simply an excuse to have some fun. For my money, it is Smith's funniest film since "Clerks".As it is to be expected, Jason Mewes is hysterical as Jay, who remains as foulmouthed and idiotic as ever. One of the funniest parts of the film is when he imagines a devil on each shoulder - and later a battered and bruised angel - when he considers whether he or not he should drop his trousers in front of Justice, whom he has only known for a few hours. He eventually decides against it, which is perhaps for the best. What makes the scene works as well as it does is that all the time that he is receiving advice from these imaginary spirits, Justice is getting increasingly freaked out, if not downright frightened, by the fact that he keeps looking at his shoulders and reacting to nothing. Justice, a sexy international jewel thief - is there any other kind? - with whom he quickly falls in love, is played very well by Shannon Elizabeth and she has great chemistry with Mewes. When it comes to his relationship with Justice, Jay displays a softer side, after a fashion, and even stops calling her a "bitch" at her request. He instead calls her "boom boom kitty f***." He becomes so gallant and debonair as the film progresses that he could easily be mistaken for David Niven. Although he has far more screen time than in the previous films, Silent Bob has only two lines - perhaps he fell out with the writer-director - but his facial expressions communicate a great deal throughout. Smith's use of the film to mock his online critics may not have been the most mature thing in the world to do but, by God, it was funny.The film is basically an exercise in self-indulgence on the one hand and breaking the fourth wall on the other. And I love it for that! For instance, Ben Affleck reprises his role as Holden McNeil from "Chasing Amy" in the early part of the film and praises the talents of the talented young actor Ben Affleck, though he was not too fond of "Good Will Hunting". Later in the film, he plays himself and is depicted filming a scene of the considerably more violent "Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season" with Matt Damon, who is still annoyed that Affleck convinced him to do "Dogma". Gus Van Sant has a cameo as the uninterested director, who spends his entire time leafing through a script, seemingly that of another film. Perhaps he was contemplating doing a shot-for-shot remake of "Clerks". I would love to see the fictional "Scream 4" in which Jay and Silent Bob's orangutan friend Suzanne is revealed to be Ghostface! Jason Lee reprises his role as both Brodie Bruce and Banky Edwards from "Mallrats" and "Chasing Amy" respectively. Even though he has only one scene as Brodie, he manages to be funnier than he was at any point in "Mallrats" as he was given much better material. If there is one thing that I have learned from the View Askewniverse films, it is that New Jersey has a surprisingly small gene pool for a place with almost nine million people. Will Ferrell is good as Marshal Willenholly but he could have been considerably better. Eliza Dushku, Ali Larter and Smith's wife Jennifer Schwalbach are great fun as Sissy, Chrissy and Missy, Justice's partners in crime who are basically evil versions of Charlie's Angels. In skintight black leather. Chris Rock is incredibly funny as the "Bluntman and Chronic" director Chaka Luther King. Any resemblance to Spike Lee is purely coincidental. The film is full to the brim with great cameos but my favourites other than those I have already mentioned are Carrie Fisher as a nun, George Carlin as a hitchhiker, Mark Hamill as himself playing Bluntman and Chronic's arch-nemesis Cocknocker, Judd Nelson as a sheriff, Joey Lauren Adams as Alyssa Jones, Dwight Ewell as Hooper X (who is seemingly Banky's boyfriend these days), Jason Biggs and James Van Der Beek as themselves and, of course, Brian O'Halloran as Dante and Jeff Anderson as Randal.Overall, this is a laugh riot from start to finish. I am glad that this was not the end of the View Askewniverse after all but I would have been more than satisfied if it had been.
Leon Erbe
A great thing, which is the reason it strongly differs from 'Clerks 1 & 2' (and yes, I am well aware they are not in the same franchise, but I like to compare them since Jay and Silent Bob originated from there), that you get to see much more locations. The story is a little more complex as well - especially compared to the first 'Clerks' movie.Do not get me wrong; I like this movie. Just, I think all these stoner references are not my cup of tea, as I am a straight edge guy. Though, the rest of the jokes made me laugh quite a lot.If you have enjoyed 'Clerks', you will love it! Not the best movie out there, but definitely funny.
