Clerks II
Put simply, Clerks II is a cesspool of moviedom, and I want more.
It's 5 years after the events in the classic Clerks, and we hope that Dante (at least) has moved on with his life. You would have thought all that rhetoric about "shit or get off the pot" would have come to something, right? If so, please write "optimist" in black sharpie on your forehead. Dante is still working at the quickstop, and it's time to open.
At this point, the filming is still black and white, faithful to the original film. We see Dante pulling up in his well used car, placing the key in the lock, and opening the security shutters of the forlorn convenience store. No, no gum in the locks this time, but Dante's luck is about to take a serious turn. When he raises the security shutter, the interior of the Quick Stop is in flames -- color flames. Dante quickly shuts it, thinking he's just imagining things (in black and white), and opens it again. Bright orange flames dance throughout the store. No Dante, you're not imagining things. He pulls out his cell and calls 911. The transition to full color occurs so simply and so quickly at this point that I hardly noticed.
Some would think Dante would take this a gift from Fate, "Get on with your life, already!" Sadly no, he instead takes up the stereotypical profession of "losers" everywhere -- burger flipper. To Kevin Smith's credit, he keeps a good deal of advertising out of this film. Instead of a Pizza Hut, McDonald's, KFC, or whatnot, Dante takes a job in a pinnacle fast food chain of the Askew-iverse, Mooby's. For those that have seen other Smith films, we've seen Mooby's before in the film Dogma. It was a decision that would have turned a cesspool of moviedom, into a cesspool of capitalism. Not even the paper soda cups have advertising!
We find out later that another year had passed in the time between the burning of the Quick Stop and events of the remainder of the movie. Dante and Randal have both been working at Mooby's since the fire, only it's Dante's last day.
Dante is about to get married. Normally, I would be happy for the guy. A wife, a new beginning in Florida as the manager of a car wash, I'd cheer him on. After seeing his fiance Emma, however, I wished he had burned along with the Quick Stop. It took me all of three minutes to turn to my friend and say quietly, "I want to strangle the life out of her." Trust me, you'll think the same thing when you see her pink "Mrs. Hicks" T-shirt.
In total, there are four employees working at Mooby's: Dante, Randal, Becky, and Elias. Dante runs the front (I assume), Randal the grill, Becky's the manager, and Elias makes the burgers. Dante and Randal are much as they were in the original Clerks, although they had lost some of their "philosophical" edge. Becky, played by the enchanting Rosario Dawson, seems the ideal boss for such a gang of misfits. Perhaps the most annoying character is Elias, outspoken Christian, Momma's Boy, and hardcore Lord of the Rings fan.
That's the official employees, of course. You really believe that Jay and Silent Bob wouldn't grace this film?
At this point, the film begins to lose it's promise. I was hoping for something similar to the original Clerks, plenty of unnecessary philosophising on pop culture minutiae and occasional insults to the general prudishness of mainstream America. Instead, the balance on the opposite end. There were only occasional philosophising, and a hell of a lot of insults to prudishness. So much so, that the plot integrity of the film became threadbare. In Clerks II's defence, I will say it had more content then say, an Adam Sandler film.
Rosario Dawson is absolutely magnetic in this film. If you don't believe this when you first see her in the film, just wait. Both the actress and her character shine during the rooftop dance scene. She's instantly a memorable character, and I hope to see her in other films in the future.
The character I could do without, of course, was Elias. While he does make a good opposite for Randal with his Lord of the Rings fandom, he doesn't have the backbone to stand toe-to-toe with Randal. In the end, Elias's studding presentation came off as unsettling and embarrassing. He does redeem himself at the end of the film, thankfully.
The core of the film again centers on Dante. While his fiance Emma offers everything that Dante wants -- a wife, a life, an escape from Randal -- it'd be a soulless existence. He'd only get these things in exchange for living up to everyone else's expectations, rather than defining his life on his terms. Becky serves as the counterpoint. She wants Dante to live as he wants to the point of letting him marry Emma. "Which will Dante choose?" is the essential question of the movie.
The ending of the film made an excellent point that's not respected in American culture. While we hail self-definition, if that definition doesn't involve "lofty" goals, we discount it. But why should we? Why is working at a Quick Stop for a living so bad? We tend to equate fame with success, making achieving success nearly impossible for anyone.
Clerks II is by no means excellent film-making. It is, as I've said before, a cesspool of depravity and pop culture. It's storyline isn't the most highly developed in the world. Even the dialog isn't the most expertly written or presented. These are points that are easy to overlook if you're a fan of Kevin Smith or simply want to see the Clerks back in silver screen. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely.
