Movie suffers from complex
plot, cameos
By Quinn Kirsch
Staff
Writer
I have never been to a comedy that had too much
plot until I went to see "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."
The beauty behind Kevin Smith's first four movies,
"Clerks," "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma," was the constant conversation
and quick wit.
In his most recent effort, the movie is so heavily
laced with cameos and homage to the first four movies that it never
establishes itself.
Virtually every notable character from the previous
movies are revisited. Actors who appear in more than one Smith movie
show up multiple times in multiple roles.
The basic premise of this movie is that the "Bluntman
and Chronic" comic book, which is based on Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent
Bob (Smith), is going to be made into a movie.
Jay and Silent Bob feel they must stop the making
of the movie because all people are writing terrible reviews of it on
the Internet. So they have to travel from their usual spot of business,
selling dope in front of the Quick Stop in New Jersey, to Hollywood
to put a beat-down on whomever they can.
It seemed as if Smith got a hold of some cash to
make a movie and used it to make one big inside joke for all his friends
from Hollywood and his hometown.
Cameos include Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (big
surprise). They play themselves in a mock movie "Good Will Hunting II:
Hunting Season," which actually turns out to be funny.
Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia
(Carrie Fisher) make appearances as a crotch-punching villain and a
nun. I would not have recognized either one of them if it were not for
the fact that Mark Hamill was introduced with a giant subtitle across
the bottom of the screen.
Even icons of teen pop movies made a few appearances.
James Van Der Beek and Jason Biggs show up as themselves. They started
talking about their careers, so it was a treat to see them pummeled
soon after they showed up.
I did not expect Shannon Elizabeth to come through
with a breakthrough performance, and she didn't. In fact, she was hot
and little else.
Even Stiffler (Sean William Scott) showed up as
a different character. I kept waiting for him to turn into the jock
that clowns on everyone. He didn't, but luckily he was pummeled too.
Typical of Kevin Smith movies, this one is filled
with cuss words, and constant oral sex and drug references, but for
some reason it's just not as funny this time.
Sadly, at one point in the movie, Jay said that
no one would ever want to see a movie based just on Jay and Silent Bob.
Then Jay and Silent Bob turn and look at the audience for a couple seconds
and nod.
That's not true. I wanted to see a movie about
just Jay and Silent Bob, but just a better one.
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