Continuing to safely social distance, Jay and Silent Bob
Reboot is now available on Amazon Prime! I watched it, so here are some
thoughts.
The slacker stoner characters of Jay and Silent Bob first
showed up briefly in Clerks, the black and white movie written and directed by
Kevin Smith starring a bunch of his friends and chronicling the day to day of
working in a Quick Stop. It came out in 1994 and if you were like me and
working retail at the time – or anytime really – this movie hit you at just the
right moment. It was funny, irreverent, and off the wall.
Smith took the characters played by himself
and Jason Mewes through the next several movies, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma,
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Clerks 2 in 2006, yes, that movie was
already that long ago.
In Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, once again Jay and Bob learn
that Hollywood is making a movie, this time rebooting the movie that was made
in 2001 based on the comic book characters that bear their likeness. So again,
they head across the country to get to ‘Chronic-con’ and stop the movie from
being made. And yes, that’s essentially the same plot as Jay and Silent Bob
Strike Back, but you’re not really here for the plot. You’re here for the cameos
and dumb jokes.
I enjoyed Clerks immensely, and I also really liked Mallrats
and Dogma. From there on, I like the
movies less and less, feeling a little like I was too old for some of the
humor. Smith himself has admitted this
one is self-indulgent. After recovering from his heart attack last year he
wanted to spend time with his friends and revisit those characters again. I
have no issue with that. If you liked the last movie, you’ll like this movie.
Kevin and Jason are still wonderful together and have a
casual ease that only comes from years of friendship. I have to say, I was impressed by Jason’s
acting in a couple of scenes.
Harley Quinn Smith is going to continue building her career
and steals a couple of scenes here as Jay’s surprise kid. I can’t decide if I like her running crew of
forcibly diverse sidekicks or find it patronizing – which is kind of the point?
Of the cameos, the Affleck one is definitely the best, and
the kid in that scene is Jason’s, which explains the look on his face when
interacting with her.
Jay and Bob are equally as dumb as they have ever been and the
celebrity cameos are plenty. It’s certainly
worth a quick watch.
5 out of 10 – just fine, and definitely delivers what it
promises. The Stan Lee tribute at the end is especially touching.
