4 more reviews

1. ›Film Review: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)@drax1066d

   

   When a film maker makes truly impressive debut expectations for next films tend to be unrealistically high and often each subsequent film becomes more disappointing than the previous. M. Night Shyamalan is often taken as as best known example of this phenomenon. Another could be found in career of Kevin Smith whose celebrated low budget black-and-white comedy Clerks was followed by series of films in which Smith’s large ambition and larger budgets failed to match what would audience see on the screen. That goes for his fifth film, 2001 comedy Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

   Like most of Smith’s films, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is set in View Askewniverse, fictional universe introduced in Clerks. Jay (played by Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (played by Smith), two small-time marijuana dealers whose presence connects those films are here the protagonists. They learn that Bluntman and Chronic, comic book created by their friends Holden McNeill (played by Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (played by Jason Lee), based on them, is to be adapted into Hollywood film. Worried that the film might taint their image and they won’t get royalties, they decide to travel to Los Angeles and try doing something about it. Along the way they meet group of militant animal rights activists that includes Justice (played by Shannon Elizabeth), girl to whom Jay becomes attracted. Group’s raid on laboratory brings attention of federal Wildlife Marshall Willenholly (played by Will Farrell) who begins to pursue Jay and Silent Bob.

   Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back can be best described as a film that Kevin Smith made less for critics or general audience and more for his most loyal fans. The plot and many of its details are incomprehensible to anyone who haven’t seen previous four films. Many characters from Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy appear in this film and sometimes actors who have played them play multiple characters. Smith adds fan service not only to fans of his films, but to also to fans of Star Wars by having Mark Hamill playing himself in cameo role in the scene near the end. Another sort of fan service comes in the animal liberation group, which are played in beautiful and scantily clad women, very much like protagonists of Charlies’ Angels. All that content, however, can’t hide the fact that the quality of humour varies and that Smith uses road film template in order to hide thinness of plot. Subplot involving liberated animals, stolen diamonds and federal policeman played by Will Farrell is very weak. Some of the jokes even got Smith into trouble with gay rights organisations over alleged homophobia. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is, however, mostly entertaining film although it could be properly enjoyed only by those who watched and appreciated Kevin Smith’s work beforehand.

   RATING: 5/10 (++)

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2. ›Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)@dlstudios2196d

   

   What a weird fucking movie this is. There is something to be said about all of Kevin Smiths Askew movies before this, and that is their strong themes and characters, as well as stories grounded in some kind of realistic logic and problems. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back says fuck all of that and just goes balls to the wall crazy.

   Jay and Silent Bob have been side-characters for the most part, not having a prominent role in any movie until Dogma, even then they weren't the leads. Back in Chasing Amy, you find out Jay and Silent Bob had a deal with two comic book creators to use their Likeness and names for a comic called 'Bluntman and Chronic'. Now we learn, at the same time as Jay and Silent Bob, that there is a movie being made. At first, the logical thing would be to think they deserve some portion of the money made from the movie due to likeness rights, but you would be wrong.

   See, people on the internet are talking shit about the Jay and Silent Bob of the movie, and Jay and Silent bod in real life take in personally. So they decide to go from Jersey to Hollywood to stop the movie from being made to stop people from talking bad about them on the internet.

   

   There are a few things you need to realize about this movie, the first being that about seventy percent of the humor is all callbacks and references to his previous Askew movies and meta-jokes about the industry and people actors involved in the movie. If you did not watch the previous movies, there are so many jokes that are going to go right over your head. Originally envisioned as a send-off to this particular movie universe (Though he did end up doing more Askew movies) it has a cameo from pretty much every actor who has been in one of these movies before.

   That isn't to say that is all the movie has to offer in terms of jokes, the premise itself stands on its own pretty well, and there are so many absurd things that happen. They get involved with an international group of jewel thieves, they steal a monkey, they have a force battle with Mark Hamill, and none of this sounds like it belongs in the same movie together, does it?

   Here is where we start to get to the other thing about this movie, and that is as a movie it's not really.... good. And that's not a bad thing. Yes, the internet comments are kind of cruel and what you would expect to see on the internet (Yes, even back in 2001), but at the same time they are kind of right about the very idea of a Jay and Silent Bob movie. These are basically joke side characters with a very small range of jokes that they make. So basically you end up with a movie that the creator himself is acknowledging is kind of a bad idea, but says fuck it anyway and just goes all out to make the goofiest thing he possibly could while paying homage to all his previous works. And there is something so wonderfully sincere about this movie because of that.

   

   The movie does have some legit points to it though, like how we see Jay finally starting to become a real character. It's so odd that this is a slow build throughout five movies. At first, he's just kind of a joke in Clerics where you see him as this goofy stoner, then came Mallrats where that still held, but we got to see him in action as him and Silent Bob tried to sabotage a game-show at the mall as well as see how he spends his time when not selling weed. Chasing Amy he was just kind of a Cameo as well, but then Dogma came around. While his personality was pretty much identical, we see Jay step up a few times to get things done (The simple plan of going to the Cardinal of the Church directly, firing off the machine gun at Bartleby to save everyone), and now we see him grow and change throughout this film. Seven years since his film debut and he finally feels like an actual character, but the very nature of these movies makes it feel like it kind of works.

   There comes a point where I can't say much more since I'd just be spoiling jokes and gags since that's almost all this movie is. The main narrative is insane and terrible (Meant in the best way possible), though Jay and his Love Story works wonderfully. The jokes range from utterly ridiculous and hilarious to fairly clever at times, either way, it's great from beginning to end. Though once again, so many of them are such meta jokes that it's really hard to say this movie is for everyone, it is not. Yet somehow this movie looks to like it has so much larger a budget than any of the others, it's insane.

   

   Every part of me wants to say Dogma is the best movie from Kevin Smith, and in a lot of ways it is. But I can't help it, Jay and Silent Bob are my favorite. It's just so absurd, so full of love and fun, it just makes me happy beginning to end. So long as you go in having seen the previous films, give it a watch.

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3. ›Insomniac Movie Marathon: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back@rvgenaille2436d

   

   I’m always torn by this film. It is raunchy and funny and vile and disturbing all at the same time. Revisiting it all these years later I am struck by how many gay jokes are in the film and how awful they are. Interestingly, I noted a credit in the credits that acknowledges that they are vile and makes a statement that those who express homophobic comments are vile. I’m not sure what to make of that.

   Jay and Silent Bob are two stoner drug dealers that live in New Jersey and learn that a comic book inspired by them are is being turned into a movie and they have been left out of the money. They head to Hollywood, encountering all sorts of crazy adventures along the way and calling back all of the films they’ve appeared in. Jay and Silent Bob are Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith (the writer/director) and they are hilariously raunchy, unfiltered characters that are also surprisingly charming in their own way.

   Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher have very different cameos in the flick and Hamill gets to say, “Don’t f**k with a Jedi Master, man,” which totally makes the movie worth seeing even if he is wielding a dildo when he says it.

   Kevin Smith is a charming but raunchy fellow and he readily acknowledges the wrongs of his past (sexist comedy, gay jokes, etc.) and how he is working to move past all of that. I’m grateful that he has denounced Harvey Weinstein and promised to donate all residuals he made from movies he made with the Weinsteins to good causes. I’m also glad he didn’t die from his recent heart attack.

   Worth the watch.

   -all photos via IMDb.com.

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4. ›Insomniac Film Festival #39: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back@rvgenaille3011d

   

   I’m always torn by this film. It is raunchy and funny and vile and disturbing all at the same time. Revisiting it all these years later I am struck by how many gay jokes are in the film and how awful they are. Interestingly, I noted a credit in the credits that acknowledges that they are vile and makes a statement that those who express homophobic comments are vile. I’m not sure what to make of that.

   Jay and Silent Bob are two stoner drug dealers that live in New Jersey and learn that a comic book inspired by them are is being turned into a movie and they have been left out of the money. They head to Hollywood, encountering all sorts of crazy adventures along the way and calling back all of the films they’ve appeared in. Jay and Silent Bob are Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith (the writer/director) and they are hilariously raunchy, unfiltered characters that are also surprisingly charming in their own way.

   Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher have very different cameos in the flick and Hamill gets to say, “Don’t f**k with a Jedi Master, man,” which totally makes the movie worth seeing even if he is wielding a dildo when he says it.

   Kevin Smith is a charming but raunchy fellow and he readily acknowledges the wrongs of his past (sexist comedy, gay jokes, etc.) and how he is working to move past all of that. I’m grateful that he has denounced Harvey Weinstein and promised to donate all residuals he made from movies he made with the Weinsteins to good causes. I’m also glad he didn’t die from his recent heart attack.

   Worth the watch.

   -all photos via IMDb.com.

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