Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: Kevin Smith

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is the kind of film where if you don't love Kevin Smith's work, you will automatically hate it. It's immediately obvious that Smith made this film explicitly for himself and his diehard fans. Why? Because it focuses on Jay and Silent Bob, the duo of drug dealers who make cameos in all of the View Askewniverse. Played by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith himself, the duo are by far Smith's most famous creations. In this film, they learn that a movie is being made off the Bluntman and Chronic comic book. This would normally not bother them until they remember that they were the inspiration for the comic and therefore deserve royalties. So they embark on a most unusual road trip to Hollywood to stop the film from being made. Along the way, they get involved in what I can only describe as Smith's favorite narrative cliches. They become patsies in a jewel robbery led by a quartet of sexy, leather-clad femme fatales which involve them breaking into a nearby animal testing lab and kidnapping an orangutan. Then, they get involved in a chase with a local sheriff (played by Will Ferrell) that ends at the edge of a dam. Following that, they break into Miramax Studios, accidentally get mistaken for actors, and engage in a brutal battle with Mark Hamill. See what I mean? The film is basically an excuse for Smith to engage in scenes and plot points that he would never regularly indulge in. Not to mention that it allows him to cast several of his heroes in supporting roles, such as George Carlin, Wes Craven, Gus Van Sant, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Jon Stewart. Some people might ask why Smith would make such an indulgent film. My answer is...wouldn't you do the exact same thing? If you were given a budget of $22 million to make a film and were told that you could make whatever you wanted and cast whoever you wanted, wouldn't you make an indulgent film starring all of your favorite actors? Some people might not like this film. But that's okay...Kevin Smith wasn't making it for them in the first place.

7/10