Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is written by, directed by and stars Kevin Smith! The highly anticipated sequel hits Blu-ray and digital release on January 21, 2020. The film stars Jason Mewes, Harley Quinn Smith, Aparna Brielle, Treshelle Edmond, Alice Wen and an insane amount of cameos including Fred Armisen, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Justin Long, Melissa Benoist, Ralph Garman and TONS MORE. Here is my review:
Jay and Silent Bob return to Hollywood to stop a reboot of the ‘Bluntman and Chronic’ movie from getting made.
Kevin Smith has created both his most personal and most ambitious film yet in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. This is a sequel that constantly pokes fun at itself, the franchise and everything else that stands in its way, including the cast and their personal lives even — no one is safe from being roasted here. This is a hard film to describe, but I’ll give it a shot… Smith has managed to craft both a worthy sequel that is not only better than Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, but also a revolving time capsule that updates his fans on nearly every other franchise from his shared cinematic universe. Matt Damon for example pops up as the angel Loki from Dogma and proceeds to update us on what happened to his character at the end of that film in an explanation so fucking awesome that I wanted to high-five my television. I won’t spoil the rest here but I will say that they are all profoundly well done and I was both shocked and delighted to get these little segments sprinkled throughout this film.
Watching Jay and Silent Bob Reboot was the cinematic equivalent of attending a highschool reunion where every student was a character from a past Kevin Smith film. When the movie hits Chronic-Con (the comic convention they are travelling to because PLOT), it was almost like I was dropped into the Kevin Smith SPIDERVERSE – it was surreal, hilarious and I loved every second of it. I don’t know how high Smith was when he wrote this script, but let’s give him some major props on creating what has to be the most fan service ever compiled into one 90+ minute feature. There’s so much to love here if you’re a fan of his cult classics like Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Clerks. I’m not sure how a non-fan of the Smith legacy would interpret this film but I don’t think he made this movie for new fans to be honest. I don’t know what that looks like because I’ve always loved the director’s work and his brand of comedy, which I will say – has improved here. Everything that I loved about Jay and Silent Bob in the past, is still here today, but it’s BETTER, more refined, sexier even? Smith gave us what we wanted, the classic lines, fan favorite characters, THE TUCK and he did it all without any moment ever feeling like it was FORCED into the movie.
It’s insane how much fan service is stuffed into such a short movie because it is NON-STOP but it never felt old to me. I loved absolutely every reveal and there were tons of them. The star cameos were nearly all perfect. For example Chris Hemsworth. He’s excellent, just as you would expect from the Avenger – he’s delivering brilliant jokes non-stop in the limited time he has here. But then you have Val Kilmer as the bigscreen incarnation of BLUNTMAN and then it gets a little awkward. I love me some Kilmer, but I don’t know if he was the right fit for that part, but then again maybe that’s also part of the joke? It was literally the only cameo I didn’t enjoy but that’s such a minor gripe in a film that gives and gives so damn much that I don’t know how Smith managed to pull this off considering he had to have been SO HIGH making this spectacle. Seriously – incredibly high.
The story is simple – it’s essentially a sequel/reboot to Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, where our two misfits are forced to try and stop yet another movie being made about characters based off them, but along the way they end up meeting Jay’s DAUGHTER (played by the mighty Harley Quinn Smith). Adding Harley Quinn to the cast is nothing new (Smith even jokes about this IN this very film), but this has to be her best performance yet. Her comedic timing is pitch perfect and she adds this emotional depth and element to the story that really opens up the film for some dramatic pauses that break up the comedy in surprising ways. There’s a TON of heart in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and I’ll admit that I even teared up a few times which blows my mind. I don’t think I’ve had that emotional response to a Kevin Smith film since maybe Chasing Amy. Bonus points on having Pearl Jam ‘Daughter’ on the soundtrack too. What a great moment.
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is everything you love and remember about damn near ALL of Kevin Smith’s cult classic films but it’s also BETTER. He pulled it off people – this is such a good film that honestly (and I don’t want this to be the case at all please) but Smith could retire and consider this movie as his masterful conclusion to the entire Jay and Silent Bob franchise. JAY AND SILENT BOB: ENDGAME. The film is ambitious yet strangely grounded (until that batshit wild Chronic Con chaos) but most importantly of all – it was made for the fans and it kills. I laughed my ass off the entire time and for that I say thank you Mr. Smith for servicing this fan so hard that I don’t think I’ll be able to walk straight for the next week. Yeah that was gross – sorry. But the film kicks ass and for that I refuse to apologize.
Rating: 4.5/5