Kevin Smith Week: ‘Clerks II’

Raise your hand if Kevin Smith rocks your face off!!!

Just so you know… I raised BOTH hands (but I can’t keep them up sinceits best that I put my feelings into words!).

The whole cast is back in this super funny sequel, and they serve it up in color! We pick up with Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) on their way to another day at their dead end jobs. Since the Quickstop burnt to the ground, along with the video store connected to it, Dante and Randal have been forced to work at the local burger joint Mooby’s. Dante has now found love, and will be moving away from Randal with his clingy fiance. The story takes us through his last day at work, as he says goodbye to his boss (Rosario Dawson), who he had an affair with, and the crazy coworkers and customers of Mooby’s.Randal is still rude to the customers, Dante is still offended by Randal but puts up with him since they are best friends. But it wouldn’t be complete without some slackers hanging around the business.   You might know them, they go by Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith).

The jokes in this film are fabulous! By far my favorite new character is Elias (Trevor Fehrman). Elias is a virginal teen who’s likes include God, church camp, Transformers, and Lord of the Rings. Elias brings us the fun of Pillow Pants, Listerfiend, “One Ring to rule them all”, and   “Since God created man, and man created the Transformers, the Transformers are like a gift from God, Randal!”. Innocence is funny!

Jay and Silent Bob are still selling drugs to the kids, but this time they are armed with the Holy Bible. I would throw some quotes in here, but I don’t think I could find any that would be PG. They are by far the coolest dudes ever!How cool you ask? I would punch someones grandmother to hang out with them! That’s how cool it would be! (Just so you know, it will never happen so all of you beautiful grandmothers are safe!) Rosario Dawson is a great addition to the cast. She’s attractive, sarcastic, smart, and can pull off the dorky attitude that fits with her less than cool cohorts.

I have heard people argue that Clerks II is not nearly as good as the original. Well, let’s think about this. Clerks was a groundbreaking film with dirty humor and lifelike characters. It was simplistic, and it didn’t try to blind you with beautiful characters and a well polished set. It was the first comedy of its kind. How can you recreate the first comedy of its kind? You don’t. Instead you evolve and build upon it, and that is exactly what Kevin Smith did. The characters were easy to relate to, with their dead end jobs and slacker attitudes. Clerks II picks up on where they are now, 10 years after the Quickstop burned down. I think if they would have shot it in the same way as the first, it would have been boring. I like the fact that they bring new characters into the picture, with a new job and color cinematographer. It would have been to easy to set it up exactly the same and do the exact same thing. Their new jobs are a great example of how we as Americans can easily fall into a rut with our careers. It’s been a decade and Dante and Randal are still just as unhappy with their occupations as they were 10 years ago. How many of us complain about our jobs yet stay in them for far too long? I dig that they can show this with some humor. Heck, it reminds me of a typical day hanging out with my friends, minus the Donkey show! I have far too many sarcastic slackers in my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

So quit trying to just compare and enjoy what it has become. Enjoy the awesomeness that is called Clerks II. KEVIN SMITH ROCKS MY FACE OFF!