Posted by Fishinwithahammer at spider-mtc-tg023.proxy.aol.com on August 24, 2001 at 15:00:00:
This was the review done by Dave Larson of the Dayton Daily News. Allow me to first state that this guy should be beaten with him own limbs ranking Titanic as one of the best films of the century and Dogma as being one of the worst. To those Kevin Smith fans out there, if you choose to read this, take care to realize this guy's kind of a moron.
REVIEW This movie recieves a C
By Dave Larson, film critic.
One of the innermerable inside jokes in Kevin Smith's latest film has his former leading lady, Joey Lauren Adams, leaving a movie screening and declaring "At least it was better than Mallrats." The same can't be said for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The fifth and final chapter in Smith's New Jersey Chronicles in his weakest film to date.
The Smug self-referential comedy centers on Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith), the biggest stoner team since Cheech and Chong. Introduced in Smith's 1994 indie classic, Clerks, the beloved cult duo has surfaced in each of his subsequent films- Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma -and made an amusing cameo in Scream 3. They also appearing in Smith's short-lived animated series based on Clerks.
The pair makes for fine comic relief serving as a sort of slacker Greek Chorus, but they quickly wear out their welcome as central characters. Jay is a foul-mouthed moron and his "heterosexual life partner" Silent Bob doesn't speak until the film's climax.
They embark on a cross-country journey after they discover that Miramax Films is about to shoot a movie based on their comic-book alter-egos, Bluntman and Chronic, without cutting them in on the "fat cash." Worst still, Jay and Silent Bob are being bad-mouthed on the Internet for selling out to Hollywood. The only way for them to salvage their reputations is to head to Los Angeles and sabotage the production.
The result is a road movie that goes nowhere. Smith lives out his cinematic fantasies, spoofing Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, and The Fugitive, while wreaking vengeance on Internet movie spies. It probably was more fun to make than it is to watch.
There are some hilarious moments- especially a scene on the Miramax lot in which Ben Affleck and Matt Damon rip on one-anothers post-Good Will Hunting careers while shooting that movies suppsed sequel- but it doesn't hold together as a coherant film.
The humor is so relentlessly crude that Dimension Films, a Miramax subsidiary, had to shoot a series of commercials with cleaned-up language, because none of the films scenes and suitable for television. Smith also agreed to make a contribution to the Matthew Shepard Foundation after complaints from gay activists over his many gay jokes.
Smith is capable of thoughtful, cleaver comedy, but this isn't it. The chief appeal of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is its cheeky star cameos. Featuring Chris Rock, George Carlin, Jason Lee, John Stewart, Will Farrell, Shannon Elizabeth, Shannen Doherty, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hammil, Ali Larter, Eliza Dushky, Marc Blucas and Seann William Scott, among many others, it plays like a who's who of Smith's pals.
Basically one long in-joke, the film is for devotees only, but even hard core Smith fans will likely be disappointed. At least Smither no longer has to sweat Mallrats being the punchline to his career.
So... Yeah... Take what you will from this review, but it pissed me off. Alot.