Social commentary, film criticism, self-parody, and gross-out humor
Hmm. Honestly, I think the above summary just about covers this entire film. I suppose, however, that I should elaborate somewhat.
In this sequel that probably should never have happened (for artistic, non-selling-out reasons, not quality reasons) we once again follow Dante Hicks and Randal Graves in (more or less) a day of their menial lives. After the QuickStop burned down they have gotten jobs flipping burgers at the local Mooby's. Jay and Silent Bob are, naturally, peddling their wares out front, and a few new characters complete the cast: Dante's fiance (played by Kevin Smith's real-life wife), a Christian, LOTR-and-Transformers obsessed geek coworker, and Rosario Dawson as the absurdly attractive Mooby manager.
The film starts out getting us caught up in the lives of our favorite people persons, and then getting us settled into the familiar situation of Dante and Randal discussing highly inappropriate subjects while in the work place. If the protagonists aren't discussing the failings of society, then they're probably making scathing criticisms on an otherwise critically acclaimed film franchise, or performing a diatribe on whether or not a person should ever engage in a given sexual act.
The romantic subplot-which-turns-primary-plot and meaning-of-life stuff aside, this movie runs a full range of humor. One moment you're laughing at a View Askew in-joke or some subtlely clever comic book reference, the next you're incredulous at the use of inter-species erotica. Needless to say, this movie is not for the squeamish or easily offended. Racial slurs alone probably earned this movie its R rating.
I did find the entire film hilarious, though personally I think the part near the end crossed a line into an unnecessary realm of gross-out humor. This is easily balanced by the equally unnecessary (but hilariously so) dance number in the middle. Watching Rosario Dawson in the scene alone is probably worth the price of admission.
Kevin Smith did a great job on this film. He did all of his nods to the previous movies, wrote a lot of funny jokes, and kept many elements of what made the first Clerks so good. All of the actors performed admirably, especially considering the protagonists aren't heavy-hitting Hollywood actors, but the same guys who did that low-budget indie film 12 years ago.
Just a quick comment on this movie's soundtrack. While sometimes quite silly, it's all extremely well chosen and timed. Considering the original Clerks got this amazing soundtrack after Miramax got the rights to the movie (that probably cost more than the movie itself), it's good to see that Clerks II had a great soundtrack right from the get-go.
I am torn on the matter of a Seal of Approval. It was a thoroughly enjoyable movie. However, I still feel Kevin Smith shouldn't have resurrected Clerks, even if he did it well. And the gross out humor, while funny, was really just more unnecessary than anything. So no Seal, but a hearty recommendation nonetheless.
Written by Hyperion, 2006-07-21 22:36:20
IMDb page: Clerks II (2006)
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