Clerks II

A pleasant surprise, which I hadn't even hoped for after the uninteresting prequel. Except perhaps for the first 20 minutes or so, with some wannabe-funny dialogue in the vein of its predecessor, for which Smith deserves to be raped by Gandalf's staff, but starting with the great verbal duel Randal vs LOTR fans, the film catches its second wind and I enjoyed all the movie quotes, allusions to current modern trends and the dialogues with funny life observations, including Randal's surprising emotional outburst at the end. So, unexpectedly for me, I'm happy to rank this sequel alongside the smart Dogma and Chasing Amy. (03/01/2007)

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... (16/09/2006)

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% (15/09/2008)

In the case of Clerks 2, the return to roots is not just an empty concept, because this is not another Mallrats or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Maybe that's why I had a problem with the lower cadence of the jokes at the beginning, but once I tuned into the pace of the film, which, like the first, features completely serious dialogue alongside the brilliant jokes, Kevin Smith had me right where he wanted. In short, the return to Jersey was a success. Jay and Bob are at it again, Randall is talking like hell, and Dante has put on some weight. It's funny, it's clever, it's touching and it's exactly what Smith fans have been waiting for. And if this bunch returns in a few years, I'll definitely be there again. (01/09/2006)

The best of Kevin Smith. Uncompromisingly funny, properly Jayovský crazy, perfectly believable, and in its honesty, touching. This is how free life stories end, this is how purely heterosexual buddies befriend, and this is how love is confessed. It wasn't the complete end of one universe after all, which is good for some, tragedy for others. But that doesn't change anything about it being the best that the most popular geek ever created. (11/01/2008)