After "Jersey Girl" (a movie I still haven't seen), many had thought writer/director Kevin Smith may have lost his touch.  Luckily for his fans, Smith decided to take another bite from the apple, and prepared a sequel to what is arguably one of the most important independent films ever made: "Clerks."

I'm going to be honest here: I don't really like "Clerks" all that much.  I can understand it and I get where the appeal is, but I find it just too pretentious and too half-baked an idea to sustain life as a feature length.  Of course, than again I also believe that Smith's finest film is, and always will be, "Mallrats."  Go figure.

The sequel picks up ten years down the road in the life of local New Jersey clerks Dante Hicks and Randal Graves.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) the Quick Stop has burned to the ground and both slackers are left looking for a job.  Luckily (or unluckily) the local fast food giant Mooby's is looking for burger flippers.  Enter Hicks and Graves as well as hottie manager Becky (played by hottie actress Rosario Dawson) and the Jesus/Transformers fan Elias (Trevor Fehrman).  Of course, joining this group is Smith staples Jay and his hetero lifemate, Silent Bob.

All though the entire film has sort of an episodic nature, the main storyline pertains to Dante, as he is at his last day working for Mooby's and is about to move to Florida with his controlling fiance for the rest of his life.  Unfortunately, both Randal and Becky are upset with Dante's decision, though for different reasons (which will not be spoiled here).

One of the things that makes this sequel superior to its prequel is its heart.  This is the most dramatic comedy Smith has made since "Chasing Amy," and it is surprisingly moving.  And though the film deals with thirty-somethings trying to figure out their lives, older and younger viewers alike can probably relate with the two main characters as one is leaving and the other is sticking around (those making that jump from high school to college will especially understand).

Of course, this is still a comedy and a very funny one at that.  Most of this comes from the surprisingly still very funny pairing of Jason Mewes and Smith as Jay & Silent Bob.  After five films (six if you count "Scream 3") and a (painfully underrated) television series, you would think these two would have lost their steam.  However, both are up to the comedy challenge and do a wonderful job doing what they do best (who knew a decade old "Silence of the Lambs" reference could still be so damn funny?).

Where the film begins to slowly fall apart is its ending.  It is not necessarily bad, it is just a bit slow-moving.  Not too mention, a third act gag involving a donkey and a certain sex act drags on for a bit longer than it probably should have (I have no problem with the raunchiness of it all, it just sort of loses its comedic value after about five minutes).

Fans of Smith will eat this one alive.  And if this is truly the last "episode" in the View Askew series, than it does indeed make for a fantastic book end.  Here's hoping, though, that we may just be able to hang out with these characters at least one more time.

***1/2 out of ****

This was good, but not great. Definitely not as good or funny as the first, which I didn't really expect it to be anyways. It's like they tried too hard to make it raunchy, and it wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be. It was very slapsticky and goofier, which is a contrast to the first, which was more realistic and dialogue based. This had a couple moments of real laughter, but was mainly just packed with small giggles.

The problem I think mostly was that it was too Hollywooded up. Not any one camera set ups or costomer interactions, which I thought was the charm of the other one. And I think if the other was in the same structure as this, it wouldn't have been as good as it was either. The independent style is what the appeal was from the first, which this one lacked.

That and the comedy just simply wasn't as good. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the story, and there was surprisingly a lot of heart, which is a step in the right direction to some degree, but the jokes just wasn't there. Like the donkey scene for example, everyone claimed it was too long, but I didn't think so, I just think that it just wasn't as funny as it could have been, much like the rest of the movie. They had a lot more opportunity for hilarity which just were not taken properly. There were a lot of call backs throughout that were used at the wrong times, and could have been used more effectively. IT was more physical type of comedy rather than just witty banter, which I would've liked to hear more of.

So, all in all, I give this a marginal 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.

I just saw this and loved it. I'd give it an 8.7/10. Funny stuff. A worthy sequel to the classic original.

I did see this and the Pirates film with Johnny Depp about the same time we went into lockdown. Must say both films are really entertaining and I can see why Kevin Smith wanted a sequel.

This shuts up the critics ie the little bastards who use IMDB to bitch about people (Not movies but people. They get personal like they're any better.) Now we wonder why Uwe Boll wants to fight his critics? Of course he would but he won't fight me. Uwe Boll... Scared of Wesley ever since he left Germany.

Saw this yesterday. I was surprised by the turnout. I thought this was actually a pretty solid film. It has everything you'd expect from Smith: the gay jokes, the sex stories, the pop culture references, and, of course, J&SB. But also, it had a lot of good character development, drama, and insight, which made the first film good. All in all, I'd say this is Smith's third best film behind Dogma and Clerks. I think it actually surpassed J&SB Strike Back in my book.

I saw this twice, it was so good. It was funny and my absolute favorite part was when Randal was acting out LOTR. I think everybody was thinking "God, he is so right." Great movie.