Clerks II
***1/2
Clerks II doesn't have the same indy movie feel as the first film, it doesn't have the same deep philosophical conversations, and it doesn't have the same emotional weight to it... but damn is it funny. Clerks II shows once again what most people already know, that Kevin Smith's films are some of the best dialogue-driven comedies out there. The movie is, in a lot of ways, in more the same category as Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back in that the humor is a lot more farcical and ridiculous, whereas the original Clerks had its fun, but tried to keep everything fairly plausible and down to earth. For example, there's a Bollywood style dance scene inexplicably thrown in the middle, among other things.
At its core, though, Clerks II, like the original, revolves around Dante and Randal. And even though its been more than a decade in between films, the characters still hold up pretty well. Dante is almost identical, save for maybe a bit less depression, while Randal doesn't seem to age quite as well. Some of the outrageous stuff Randal says-- and it is at least equally as ridiculous as anything from the original-- somehow seems less funny and maybe a little creepy now that the character is supposed to be 32. Despite this, Randal still has a number of laugh out loud moments, and he steals the movie with one bit in particular toward the end that I won't give away.
Clerks II takes place during Dante's last day at Mooby's before he moves to Florida with his fiance, the fast food joint where Dante and Randal go to work after the Quick Stop burns down in an accident. Rosario Dawson plays their boss and does an excellent job playing a character that probably has the most deadpan serious dialgoue in a movie with a lot of ridiculous gas. She develops an interesting relationship with Dante, and not just interesting because she's not his finace. Jay and Silent Bob make their requisit appearances and... basically are Jay and Silent Bob. There is another newcomer, Elias, a devotly relgious 19-year old whose main concerns are Transformers and Lord of the Rings. His main purpose is to be a whipping boy for Randal, but he does manage to have some funny moments of his own, and Kevin Smith's dialgoue brings the whole thing to another level beyond the traditional "watch the nerd get abused" scene.
Not everything works in Clerks II. You've probably seen the trailer which shows a donkey at one point. Yeah, it's pretty much what you think it is, and where the scene is going is blantly obvious from the get-go, but it gets drawn on way too long. But again, most of the movie is genuinely funny, and if you laughed at all at any of Kevin Smith's other films Clerks II is a must-see.
