Clerks II

Smith returns to his New Jersey gang of slackers after a break of twelve years, and we can only be grateful, as the characters of Randell and Dante still have a lot to say after all this time. The new characters are as memorable as the ones already familiar to us. Rosaria Dawson is a convincing actor and the Catholic, Elias, will definitely get to you. Like most of Kevin's films, it's based primarily on brilliantly polished dialogs – both serious and pop cultural. In addition to the beautifully captured melancholy, above all they give us brilliant humor. I laughed at most of the scenes long after they ended (if this movie doesn't convince you that Bay's feature-length Transformers has a philosophical message of the highest quality, I don't know what will). Last but not least, the iconic Jay and Silent Bob duo returns to the screen in top form. I sincerely hope that we will meet this bunch again in another decade’s time... (09/16/2006)

I have really liked Kevin Smith since his debut, and I eagerly awaited the continuation of the adventures of his slackers from Jersey. To be honest, I endured the first twenty, maybe even twenty-five minutes of the film, because the characters have aged and they reminded me of my own deterioration, and looking at Dante, I painfully realized the shortcomings of my nutrition. Above all, the attempts at jokes seemed to me to be lacking in humor, and there was an excess of vulgarities that seemed purposeless without the support of functioning comedy. Then came the scene with the "elf in the crotch" and the "spittoon in the mouth" as defenders of virginity - a clear allusion to the sexual education used by President Bush. All that was missing was mention of the stork delivering babies. The argument between The Lord of the Rings fans and a staunch Star Wars worshipper was also great, and the anchor points kept on increasing. This film simply lacks the inventiveness and quotability of the first installment, and overall represents a more calculated production that clearly relies on the sentiment of its fans. On the other hand, it is also more mature, and professional, and clearly had a higher budget, which allowed for the hiring of more expensive and well-known actors. However, what saves Smith the most is his uncompromising and, above all, politically incorrect humor, which allows him to make jokes about black monkeys or employ a donkey as a perverted Kelly. Very few people in American studio productions dare to play around with political correctness like this. Overall impression: 75%. Although I consider myself a fan of Smith, I get the impression that he is starting to repeat himself, and I would be quite afraid of a third installment of Clerks... It is time to look for innovation and, above all, to find entertainment from a different perspective. (08/08/2008)

Smith has elegantly avoided all the ills of his first film, turned up the humor (the donkey party), leaned neatly into The Lord of the Rings phenomenon, let the protagonists spout the truest of life's wisdom in brilliant dialogue, and cast Rosario Dawson. In general, what makes his films brilliant has once again come together in the fanciest guise imaginable. Thanks, Kevin. We'll see what the rest of the life that began at the end of this film turns into. (01/05/2007)

I simply love this movie. Maybe even more than the first one, which was groundbreaking for Smith. There are great dialogues here, there are perverse situations, and there are excellent characters, especially Becky with Rosario Dawson's face, which is a great move. It's easy to fall in love with this girl. I can't take my eyes off of this movie every time I watch it. (03/18/2015)

Much, much funnier than the first part. Some scenes are brilliant, while others fizzle out, but as whole Clerks II deserves a four star rating, a nice improvement from last time. The best comedy moment is hands down the Donkey Show, which is followed by what for my taste is an overly long and amicable ending. What’s certainly good is that Smith’s humour has matured since the first Clerks, and also got sharper, which made me laugh about things that otherwise I wouldn’t even smile at. 85% (09/15/2008)