Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Stoners Jay and Bob spend their time selling drugs in front of a grocery store and hanging out. When they are introduced to the world of the internet they discover that a film version is being made of the comic book that they were the inspiration for. Not only that but people are on the message boards insulting and slandering them. In order to stop the slander Jay and Bob decide to travel to Hollywood to stop the filming and therefore stop the internet discussions. A cross-country adventure ensues that includes stolen monkeys, international jewel thieves, the scooby-doo gang, a star wars confrontation, many many cameos and a million rude jokes.

The plot for this film is very, very weak. However for the most part you're laughing so hard you don't care how thin it is. It's only the middle section where the Scooby Doo bit and the jewel thief bit come in, where the jokes are less funny and the plot is more silly where you feel it. That said it's still really funny - Jay's desire to steal/liberate a monkey in order to get a woman to sleep with him is hilarious ("we steal monkeys all the time in Jersey" "If I'd known stealing monkeys would get me sex, I'd have been doing it since I was 7!") as is his rant on behalf of C.L.I.T.!

The humour is all of one type. If you know these characters from the other Red Bank films then you'll know if you'll like them or not. If you don't know them already then some of the jokes here will go over your head - there's lots of in-jokes and references to actions and characters in the other films that you won't understand (although some are still funny). Some of the references go too far and aren't funny - one joke in particular where the characters say something like "who'd pay to see a movie like that?" or "I hate it when you get roped into a movie by a friend" and then look out at the audience, isn't funny the first time or the 5th time. However most of the jokes are really funny thanks to a) Mewes's wonderfully un-PC, obscene dealer and b) Smith's great writing.

As I said some of the scenes are funny for 5 seconds but soon die out (the scooby doo bit gets dry pretty quick) but the majority is great. Standout bits include the monkey stuff, the whole Miramax-ribbing climax, the Phantom Menace skit and Chris Rock's angry black director (very similar to Hooper in Chasing Amy). The focus on sex related jokes makes for a film you're either going like or hate - and I loved it. Yes too many characters from other film are shoved in unfunny scenes (Affleck's Holden is poor and Lee is given nothing to work with in the role of Brodie that he was fantastic in in Mallrats), but the majority of it is great.

There are too many cameos to mention but nearly all of them are funny - high points include Chris Rock who missed out on making a black Sesame Street (he was going to call it N.W.P. - you work it out!), Carrie Fisher as the nun who lives by the book, Jason Biggs lamenting his pie-humping typecasting, Mark Hamill in the star wars spoof, the director and cast of Good Will Hunting poking major fun at Miramax and money grabbing sequels and Wes Craven directing Shannon Doherty in Scream 4 in a bang-on swipe at the Scream movies. The main acting pressure was all on Mewes as Jay, as Bob doesn't speak enough to carry the film, and he succeeds. Here his dirty mouth is given plenty of funny situations and good lines to work with and it ensures that his good performance carries through the whole thing and stops him getting annoying.

Overall this is one funny film and a very good way to say goodbye to these characters. Dry is some places, brilliant in others this isn't to everyone's taste but will please Smith fans easily. It's not The Godfather but it does what it's supposed to and does it well.

It's almost impossible to believe that this film is from the self same Kevin Smith who wrote and directed Clerks. Gone is the biting wit and odd charm of that film, and in its place, big-budget pointlessness and a dozen more dick jokes. The many cameo appearances of characters from the other movies which comprise the extended 'New Jersey Trilogy' (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and the woeful Dogma) serve only to remind the viewer just how good - or even average - Smith used to be. Indeed, whatever it was that made his work so individual and enjoyable was clearly lost some time ago.

Directorially, the 'post-modern' elements (several actors playing dual roles) are fairly well-handled, though presumably quite confusing for those who haven't seen earlier entries in the series. Unfortunately, however, Smith's usual lack of visual awareness and style is once more in evidence. In Clerks it didn't matter: the script was so tight that the primitive direction was irrelevant, but here, with hardly any gags hitting the mark (special mention for Mark Hamill's spectacularly unfunny cameo) it's extremely noticeable.

The acting too, is of a poor standard with too many lines and jokes fluffed, though Jason Mewes' usual one-note performance (essentially playing a toned-down version of himself, by all accounts) works well here. All in all, more puerile and less funny than its predecessors, though foul-mouthed children, stoners and idiots may take to it more than most.

If you're the type of movie goer who gets uptight hearing countless F Bombs and explicit sexual discussion, then please move along and let others get in line to see one of the Funniest movies I have seen in my recent memory.

"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" is a movie that has so much going on, that one screening is not enough for me to all that was thrown at me in 90 plus minutes.

Writer/Director/Co-Star, Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) has without a doubt created if not his best movie, then it would have to be his funniest. A fitting conclusion to his "New Jersey Trilogy" (that now consists of five films instead of the originally planned three) forgoes the serious religious overtones of "Dogma" and the Sexuality issues brought forth in "Chasing Amy" to go for pure Laughs...............and it succeeds.

The film's main plot revolves around the familiar duo of Jay (Jason Mewes) and his "Heterosexual Life mate" Silent Bob and their attempts to thwart a movie based on a comic book about Jay and Bob. It's essentially a road picture as the guys make their way from Leonardo, New Jersey to Hollywood. Along the way they meet international Jewel Thieves, Steal a Monkey, Meet The Scooby Doo gang, Try and Beat up Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and much more.

As Silly as all this sounds it's done in such a way that's smart, witty, and still has a touch of class about it. And that's pretty hard to do considering I can't even tell you some of the content of the movie without being censored heavily.

If you are at all familiar with Smith's movies (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma) you will get a kick out of the countless cameos and connections to his other films. For Example, Jason Lee reprises two roles (one from "Mallrats" and one from "Chasing Amy") as does Ben Affleck. Matt Damon appears as himself playing "Will Hunting" in a fictitious sequel to "Good Will Hunting" entitled `Good Will Hunting II: Hunting Season". There are two highlights of this movie that I need to talk about. First Being Jason Mewes as "Jay". This guy is for real, by far and away he has put in the best performance of all his five film appearances as "Jay" He carries the picture and is side splittingly funny. It is my hope that he can now get other roles in movies besides the loveable Dope smoking "Jay". Secondly I want to address Kevin Smith's Directing. To all the people who say Smith can't direct need to see "Jay and Silent Bob". His use of motion should silence everyone who claims there are no moving shots in a Smith film!!! It's almost become fashionable to blast Smiths direction because that's the Thing to do. With all the great action and movement in "Jay and Silent Bob' Smith can finally shrug off all the criticisms of the past.

What can I say to sum up? It's a brilliant movie for everyone, not just Smith fans. You will laugh and laugh some more. Do yourself a favour and go see it as soon as you can!

While I found this movie amusing, if you haven't seen the entire Kevin Smith cannon, NOTHING is going to make much sense. Ben Affleck as more than one character, Jason Lee as more than one character, and the myriad of cameos from past Smith film characters would be confusing to anyone who doesn't know the history.

A "should see" for Smith fans, but probably not much interest to anyone else.

The movie has its moments, but it's just a hodge podge of sometimes clever (sometimes not) walk-on cameos, a road trip (which is a poor screen writing trick to fill a weak plot with 30-40 minutes of loose gags), silly subplots and weak "ha-ha" gags breaking the fourth wall.

Half the movie is an insult to people who can best be described as The Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons (myself included). Half of the "Joke" is ripping on his own fanbase, and any average person who critiques him negatively over the net. This cheazy ploy went out with low-brow comics ripping on Siskel and Ebert (real critics), but now it's like the Slapshot scene where they go into the audience and beat-up their fans.

Except Slap Shot was funny.

Maybe I'm old (I'm Kevin Smith's Age). But F just isn't funny anymore Be clever. Why was Scooby Doo in the movie? It was a waste of 10 minutes that did nothing to the plot. Couldn't he tie that in somehow humously at the end like, those kids show up to expose the jewel theifs, who end up being 3 cranky old men who woulda gotten away with it. And the love interest... we won't even get into that believability.

Anyhow. Kevin, if you ever wanna come over and beat me up, drop me a note and I'll give ya my address.