I took a break from horror last week for a very special reason: to return to the View Askewniverse of Jay and Silent Bob. Yes, after 13 very long years, my favourite duo have finally returned and I couldn’t be happier. I’ll never fault an artist for trying something different — I never liked St. Anger, but I’ll never blame Metallica for attempting something new — but the Kevin Smith films that I grew up loving have definitely been missing for the last decade. He tried something different with Red State, Tusk, and Yoga Hosers, and I applaud him, but this is the Smith that I know and love. Jay & Silent Bob Reboot contains so much heart and it was beautiful to experience. During the introduction before the film by Smith and Jason Mewes, Smith mentioned that Mewes has grown immensely as an actor since his debut in Clerks and I kinda laughed — not because he hasn’t, but because I never really think of Mewes as an actor — but after watching Reboot, I couldn’t agree more. Mewes won’t win an Oscar or anything, but his performance here blew my mind. The cameos in this by all of the usual View Askew players made me grin from ear-to-ear, too — especially Ben Affleck’s. Knowing that he and Smith had a falling out years ago, his appearance in the film is just a really special moment that also contains some HILARIOUS yet heartwarming dialogue. Seeing Jason Lee as Brodie again really made me happy, too. As a comic geek, Mallrats was my go-to film for nearly a decade before comicbook movies got really great. I feel that if you grew up with these characters and this world like I did, you’ll be so happy and so emotional watching this film. Also, Smith gives easily the best, most heartfelt dedication to Stan Lee that I’ve seen yet, so I thank him for that. If Clerks III happens, I’ll be ecstatic, but even if it doesn’t, Jay & Silent Bob Reboot will easily be the best sendoff these characters could ever ask for. Watch Reboot and you’ll become Kevin Smith for 90 minutes and cry for reasons unknown. No complaints from this guy.
Rating (out of 5):
(unapologetically)