Clerks 2: A Sequel Worth Waiting 12 Years

Kevin Smith said he was done making movies like Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob but, after a rather triumphant flop with his movie Jersey Girl, Smith had a change of heart and released Clerks 2, the sequel to his very first film Clerks.

The original; Clerks was released in 1994. Smith filmed Clerks on a shoe string budget and showed the film at Sundance where it was selected for distribution by Miramax, and became a film classic. The film followed a day in the life of two ordinary clerks, Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) working at a Quick Stop grocery and video store. The two characters were then in their 20’s with their whole lives ahead of them.

In Clerks 2 we find a much older Dante and Randal still in the same place they were when we left them, the Quick Stop. In the opening of Clerks 2 however Dante arrives to open the Quick Stop only to discover it is on fire. Homeless from the job he’s had for ten years Dante and Randal find work at a Moobys, a local cow themed burger joint, in order to make ends meet. jay and Silent Bob are also back, now dealing drugs and listening to their boombox beside the Mooby’s instead of the Quick Stop.

The magic of the original Clerks is recreated in Clerks 2. The movies gives viewers a glimpse into what life working in retail truly is like. Almost every single scene in the movie takes place in the Mooby’s, much like almost every single scene in the original was shot in the Quick Stop.

I have been a rather large Kevin Smith fan since his first film, and think that Clerks 2 lives up to the Smith legacy. If you haven’t seen any of Smiths others film you may want to at least watch the first Clerks before heading out to the theater to see the sequel. While you don’t need to have seen any of his previous work to understand the movie, Clerks 2 is not going to be nearly as funny for you if you haven’t seen the original.

If you are easily offended, then Clerks 2 is definitely a movie you want to stay away from. The movie is rated R for plenty of good reasons including an uncountable number of rather crude references to sex and drugs as well as an “interspecies erotica” scene. Clerks 2 takes everything to the absolute limit which is part of what makes it a hit with fans.

I normally would have no problem bringing some children into rated R flicks, but this is one to definitely leave the kids at home for. The film also explores relationships and growing up by looking at Dante and Randals friendship, as well touching on the subjects of growing older, marriage and children.

Clerks 2 is a wonderful trip back to Kevin Smiths roots, a great movie for long time fans so good that we can all forget Jersey Girl ever happened.