September 1st, 2006)It was always going to a tough act to follow. A cult hit and a mandatory inclusion on most 'best of' lists, it was impossible not to be nervous coming up to the release of the follow-up to Kevin Smith's master work.
So breathe a sigh of relief, people, because Clerks 2 is beyond worthy.
Picking up ten years on from the original, Clerks 2 finds Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) still stuck in their dead-end jobs, still having woman trouble, still abusing customers, and still finding time to debate Star Wars. After the unfortunate demise of the QuickStop (in a brilliantly self-referential opening scene), the site of mischief is now the Mooby's fast food chain. Dante is engaged to Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach) and is moving to Florida with her the next day, hoping to escape his loserhood. Of course things don't go smoothly.
Jay & Silent Bob are back, as hilariously funny and puerile as ever, but it's the new characters that really earn their salt. Jesus-freak virgin Elias (Trevor Fehrman) and Dante's other romantic interest Becky (Rosario Dawson) (And as Randall points out, how the hell does Dante manage to always have so many chicks willing to jump him?!) both play their roles with the glee required to lift this from basely immature into comedy gold. Sure, the occasional debate isn't so original (like, we know Frodo and Sam were hot for each other - it's not cutting edge to say so), but it's done with such obvious joy and spirit it still seems like the most clever, original thing ever to be said.
With all the shit that's churned out of Hollywood at the moment, it's nice to see a film that's still prepared to include human/donkey unholiness, but is chock-full of heart.
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