Director:
Kevin Smith

Cast:

Brian O'Halloran .... Dante Hicks
Jeff Anderson .... Randal Graves
Rosario Dawson .... Becky
Trevor Fehrman .... Elias
Jason Mewes .... Jay
Kevin Smith .... Silent Bob

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Summary:
Dante and Randal are back. After a fire at the Quickie Mart, they resort to living a still unimportant existence at Moobie's, a fast food joint. Becky is their manager, Dante's about to get married, and yet again the duo talk endlessly about mundane shit, and us fans of Clerks can eat it all up!

Review:
First of all, if you liked Clerks, I doubt you wouldn't like this movie. If that's the case, you really don't have to read the rest of this review! Go see it now!

Still wanna know more? OK, then! Where to begin...
At first, I wasn't too hip to the amateurish line delivery. It worked the first time around, because it was obviously not a professionally made movie, so some not so hot acting is expected. After Smith has already done a handful of movies since then, there should NOT be line delivery as flat as what we were getting in the first 15 minutes or so. Maybe it was just me, and others haven't noticed it, but thankfully I either stopped noticing it myself or the movie got better as it went along enough to make me forget about it. By the time it ended, I was totally immersed in Dante and Randal's world again, and not worrying about the lackluster line delivery, which eventually turned into solid gold. This movie is fucking hilarious. I mean, the more I watched it, the more I was laughing. By the time we got to the Donkey Show, I couldn't help but laugh out loud at how FAR they were willing to take this Donkey Show concept. And it just kept getting funnier to me!
Like any other Smith movie, it's the sex talk, fart jokes and endless bickering about comics, movies and the internet DWEEBS that one must look most forward to. We got plenty of that this time around, especially between the Ultimate Trifecta - the Star Wars trilogy versus Lord of the Rings with some Transformers thrown in for good measure. I'm from the same generation as Smith and friends, and I grew up liking the same things he did, and so all the things that are talked about in this movie are right up my alley! "The Lord of the Rings trilogy is all about Frodo and Sam walking," says Randal at one point to a customer and employee who feel it was the greatest trilogy in existence. Randal then proceeds to show the first movie in a nutshell... by walking ten feet. Then, the second movie, by walking - OH! He trips for a half second! - then, the third movie has a fitting conclusion to all of his walking through the first two. Classic! Add to that the juicy arguing between Randal and Elias against the validity of Transformers and there are good times to be had!
O'Hallaran and Anderson did alright as Dante and Randal, but for me the real show stopper was the hotness of Rosario Dawson - oops, I meant to say that Trevor Fehrman as Elias got me the MOST laughs. It's not just because of the far out ridiculous claims and pure geekiness that comes from this poor sheltered character, but more because he hit the uncomfortable body language and insecurities of Elias so deftly. I couldn't think of anyone who could have done better playing such a kooky fellow! Props to THIS guy, man! Shit! He stole a few scenes right from under everyone else sharing the screen with him! The Pussy Troll scene was CLASSIC! Oooooh, MAN! I'm laughing just THINKING about it!

I want to marry Rosario Dawson.

Another added bonus to this sequel was the drama that kicked in a little bit here and there. It's about life in your 30's, and the question of what you've done in your life vice what you WISH you could have done, and other complications that arise from feeling like you haven't accomplished what you wanted even from ten years before. I think most of us will come across this kind of contemplation by the time we're 35 unless we're madly successful, but even then I'm sure there are still doubts and regrets of the past. This theme is the support beam of most of what goes on from beginning to end in Clerks 2, and during the film's final minutes there's a heartfelt confession and epiphany for Dante and Randal. It worked, that's what was the best thing about it.

If you disregard the attempt at maintaining the first Clerks vibe with some off-kilter line delivery, and if you know exactly what you're getting into before you see this, I'm sure you can't go wrong with checking this one out. There are a SLEW of classic quotables and far out Smith-isms from beginning to end. What's even better with this movie is the attempt at injecting a little more dramatic depth once all was said and done, raising the movie's value up a notch. Perhaps it's not a BIG notch (I mean this movie had an extended Donkey Show sequence!), but enough to make it better than without this vital ingredient.


GRADE: A-



Reviewed: 7/26/06