Posted by AK Wolf at cbl244.pool006.ch001-pasadena.dhcp.hs.earthlink.net on August 19, 2001 at 12:27:14:
Caught the preview at the AMC Burbank 14 last night, and laughed my ass off... Rather than write up yet another review of the flick, I figured I'd just note a few thoughts on it:
*** Where the heck did Mewes learn to act?!? The flashes and glimmers that started to appear in his performance in "Dogma" came to full fruition in this film. I think it says a lot about the guy that Kevin could come to him with a feature role, and that Mewes would go out and work his ass off to carry it through, rather than just coast on his character's popularity. For someone who "wasn't an actor", he has certainly become one, and I applaud him for it.
*** The "Dogma" DVD commentary gave us a peek, but J&SBSB and black leather confirmed it - Jen is freakin' HOT! How in the HELL did Kevin luck out and score HER for a "significant other?" Did he slip her a mickey? Is she blind? Maybe he's into hypnosis... c'mon, Kevin - the lonely single masses of the Internet need to know your secret! Screw the filmmaking... THAT's Kevin's real talent!
*** Kevin can now go down into the annals of history as having directed one of the coolest lightsaber scenes ever!
*** I didn't think that Mark Hamill could really go any higher in my personal ratings as just an all-around cool guy, but his appearance in this flick shot him through the roof!
*** Screw "Phantoms" - Ben is da bomb in J&SBSB! Freakin' hysterical...
*** I think that the effect that this film has on people is best summed up in one odd little statistic - at the preview I saw, when the film was over, and the credits rolled, less than *10%* of the audience left. Nobody was willing to give up a seat until the last frame! Now, how many films do you see THAT happen with?
*** My most important impression of this movie after seeing the preview is that this is a film that will be discussed for a long time to come. It's one of those rare pictures that is a completely different movie depending on your viewpoint. Some people, quite frankly, are just not going to "get it", and it will be a long and ongoing debate about whether this picture is unique, outside-of-the-box filmmaking... or just a total piece of crap.
Not that they are even remotely similar movies, but it is a situation akin to "Starship Troopers" - there are still people that will vehemently argue for and against this film. Is it just a stupid movie, or is the irony and humor just too well hidden for most viewers to catch - essentially, is it shit, or just too hip for the room? The arguements for and against "Starship Troopers" were perfectly summed up in the video review (NOT that moron Owen Glieberman's film review) in "Entertainment Weekly" - it was one of the only movies ever to escape without any sort of letter grade at all, because, as the critic put it, "I don't know whether to give this film an 'A' or an 'F', because it's either one of the most brilliant movies made in years, or total garbage, dependant largely on the filmmaker's intent."
"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" is one of those movies - it walks the dangerous line of being "too hip for the room" at times... yes, fart jokes and all. By the end of the film, ingredients that would normally be essential to any movie, like the plot, are completely irrelevant - and it works. It's a movie that, by the end, says "Screw the story, screw the fiction" - it's no longer an audience watching flickering pictures from the sterile safety of the auditorium; it's fans and friends being invited to join in a celebration of the last 10 years of work, with a motley band of characters, actors, filmmakers and film lovers, whom have all become far too real in ours (and each others') lives.
I look forward to seeing the film again on August 24th... because it's going to take more than one viewing to absorb it all in. "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" isn't a movie... it's a View Askew Experience.