Clerks 2

Hey all! Yet another guest critic! This time, it's good old Rob, with his take on Clerks 2:

Let me start out by saying that I live in New Jersey. I recognized many of the places in the opening of this movie more so than the opening sequence in The Sopranos. Which I suppose, is a good thing. Clerks 2 focuses on Dante and Randall and their lives as 30-something men. Now if you've seen the first Clerks, you know that Dante is the good guy who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who can forget his lament, "I wasn't even supposed to be here today!" His fun loving, wise cracking buddy Randall likes to antagonize and go with the flow. The Yin to Dante's Yang. If you didn't see Clerks, well now you know those two characters. Jay and Silent Bob are back and pretty much as you remember them. ---Side note, if you've ever met my brother-in-law Pat, Jay does an ode to him at one point of the movie. Also, I swear my step-bro Mike is in the bathroom in the dance sequence.

In this movie, Dante and Randall are working at Mooby's, a burger place you may have seen in previous Kevin Smith movies. Smith does a good job of letting his movies stand on their own while also tying them together. He furthers this by having cameos from actors in previous Smith movies. When the movie starts, Dante is ready to change his life. New job, new wife, and a new home. This meets with some resistance from Randall. Dante wants to grow up and start his life while Randall is fairly content with how things are. But, if his buddy is going to move on, he'll go out in memorable fashion.

What comes next is what caused critic Joel Siegel to stand up and walk out of a movie for the first time in the 30-plus years that he's been reviewing. In the words of Kelly, a character in the movie, let's call the event "interspecies erotica."

Two new characters are introduced in this movie: Becky, the manager at Mooby's, and Elias, Mooby's Employee of the Month. Both were enjoyable characters, with the naive and Transformers-obsessed Elias stealing more then a few scenes.

Smith fans will enjoy the director's usual nod to Star Wars. Especially in a Lord of the Rings vs. Star Wars exchange.

A couple of old Smith stalwarts make cameos in the film. I must say though that I was pretty disappointed by them. I was expecting them to be either a former character they played or at least, a bit more creative. Also, those of you expecting Bob to be the font of wisdom in this flick as he's been in others will be disappointed. They played off that, but I would rather have seen him dispense chocolatey nuggets of emotional goodness as in movies past.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. It has the sarcastic wit of Clerks with the heart of Chasing Amy. It resolved in a nice way. Some may have seen it coming, but hell, I get stumped by Blue's Clues. I'd give it a 7 out of 10. I'll probably pick it up on DVD and complete the Jersey Chronicles.

Well, there you have it. Vulgarity, Lord of the Rings, and bestiality. Sign me up! Thanks, Duroc!