FIENDISH FLASHBACK: CLERKS 2

When I first heard that Kevin Smith was going to do a sequel to Clerks, his landmark 1994 slacker flick, my reaction was thanks, but no thanks. There's something so stark and single minded about that film that the thought of revisiting it seemed extraneous at best. Not to mention that the original also marks such a definitive point in time for a very specific generation of movie goers. It's like doing a sequel to Taxi Driver (of which there are rumours swirling) or Easy Rider. What would be the point?

However, as a longtime Smith aficionado I couldn't NOT watch it. Such is the nature of fandom.

The movie shows us the two main characters, Dante and Randall, now 10 years older and seemingly none the wiser. The Quick Stop has burned down and they are now sad-sack burger flippers of a Mooby's fast food restaurant, under the management of Becky, played by the ever radiant Rosario Dawson.

Dante is engaged to be married and will soon move to Florida, but it seems his heart may still be firmly tethered to New Jersey. The movie plays on the bickering bromance between Dante and Randall and Randall's attempts to show his friend that despite their lot in life they can indeed be masters of their destiny.

I'm not gonna bother getting into the acting or cinematography; if you know Kevin Smith movies then you know neither of those prime aspects of film making are his forte, so it is to the writing where we must dig for gold.

Smiths dialogue is as ever, wholly unbelievable, but that's not a bad thing for him. His characters are the mouthpiece to his unique sensibility and they tend to vocalize in detailed, verbose bursts that sound as if they're being read rather than felt. But that is the hallmark of a Keven Smith movie and I for one really embrace it. He again illustrates his ability to populate a movie with foulmouthed idiots that in the end we somehow care about.

And so it goes as we follow the Clerks, Becky and Jay and Silent Bob. For a good hour and a half, the movie knocks you over the head with over the top sexual, racial and scatological humour, mixed in with some romantic tension which all culminates to the climactic Donkey Show scene. The eventual alignment of so many character arches and jokes reaches a crescendo at this juncture that for me payed off extremely well, not unlike the end of "The Misbehavers" story in Four Rooms.

I must say the movie begins rather awkwardly and stumbles rather aimlessly for a good portion of the beginning. The restaurant seems strangely underpopulated and quiet which makes the sometimes leaden dialogue stand out all the more. A more hectic work environment might have helped buoy the story and given it some sizzle. But slowly and surely, by the end of the film Smith is able to pay off on all his bets and the movie coasts in for a smooth landing. It ends on a genuinely touching note that no Clerks fan will deny tugs at all the right heart strings.

I'm re watching this on the heels of Kevin Smiths latest release, Cop Out. This is Smiths first "director for hire" gig and I must say I'm disappointed that he has decided to go that route. For all his successes and failures, Smith could always say it was his vision he was putting forth. Love it or hate it. I find it kind of sad that he has given up that great run.

Clerks 2 does not really compare to Clerks in any meaningful way other than its main characters. Its not a breakthrough vision as the original was, and it may in the end have been totally unnecessary but I'm kinda glad to know what happened to these characters we love. Kevin Smith has always made some room in his movies to show some heart alongside all the raunch and this movie has it in spades.