Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

December 11, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 95 min Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

DVD Quick Take

If you are a fan of Kevin Smith and his View Askewniverse, this DVD is an absolute must-have. This is supposedly the fifth and final film in the trilogy. You’ll have to watch this one at least 3 times, listen to the commentary and watch all of the extras to even begin to notice all of the inside jokes and references to other films.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Movies For Guys’ Original Review of the Theatrical Release

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is the latest offering from Kevin Smith, who once again writes, directs and stars in the movie. If you recognize any of the previous names and are a fan of Smith’s previous work on such films as Clerks and Dogma, then this is probably a movie you’ve been anxiously awaiting. We here at Movies for Guys are big fans and were quite anxious to see if these two could carry an entire movie.

A bit of background is perhaps necessary to understand who Jay and Silent Bob are exactly. You see in all of the movies Kevin Smith has made, these two stoners show up as recurring characters. In fact, Smith’s movies all seem to be set in the same little fictional world as you get frequent crossovers between his movies, some logical, some not. For instance you’ll see Ben Affleck as his character from Chasing Amy, Holden McNeil, and then later see him playing himself playing another character (that is a joke I wont spoil). Affleck has also played two other characters in other Kevin Smith movies. Confused yet? Don’t think about it too much, just understand that Jay and Silent Bob kind of tie all of these worlds together. Kevin Smith plays Silent Bob himself. Bob is well, silent, at least most of the time. On the rare occasions he does speak, it’s usually very profound. But mostly he serves as the straightman for Jay just with facial expressions alone. Jay, played by Jason Mewes, on the other hand never stops talking, and it is usually much more profane than profound!

The storyline for the film is that a movie is being made about characters based upon Jay and Silent Bob. Are our heros ticked because they didn’t give their permission to use their likeness and consequently get paid? Nope! They’re annoyed because people on the internet movie boards are saying they suck. Feeling besmirched, they set out for Hollywood to stop the film. Along the way we are treated to a ton of cameos including most of your favorite characters from previous Kevin Smith films. He also does spoofs on everything from Star Wars to Scooby Doo.

This movie is classic Kevin Smith. It is not a movie for everyone, the best bits are subtle or require a little previous knowledge. I’ll use Scooby Doo as an example, without spoiling the bit. Let’s just say if you grew up on Scooby Doo on Saturday mornings or at least have caught it on Cartoon Network, you just might wet your pants. On the other hand, if you’re not a Scooby Doo fan, that whole bit is gonna go right over your head and you’re going to be very confused about why everyone else is laughing. Smith doesn’t setup, telegraph or otherwise dumb down his jokes for the masses in any way. He just puts it out there, you either get it or you don’t.

We give this movie 5 stars. It is an instant classic, I’d love to see it again right now. However, if you’re not a Kevin Smith fan, you may not “get it”. And if you don’t chances are you’re going to see this movie as one long series of totally crude jokes about flatulence, the penis and homosexuality featuring two total dimwits. Actually, even that dosn’t sound bad if it’s funny, and this is.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 5 Stars, Chris Rock, Comedy, DVD, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, R, Shannon Elizabeth