Mario's Musings: Jay & Silent Bob Reboot
I’m not an emotional guy, except for when movies (and in some rare cases; books and music) bring them out of me. Avengers: Endgame almost made me tear up when all the heroes came back from being snapped out of existence to help Captain America and the rest of the Avengers. Infinity War’s scene where Spider-Man realized he’s fading out of existence choked me up. And then there’s this movie, which got me in the feelings in so many ways because Kevin Smith decided to give closure to so many characters that I didn’t know needed closure.
This was the first movie directed by Kevin Smith since his near fatal heart attack, back in 2018. He joked that he had one carte blanche movie where he could ask anyone to appear in this film, and boy, did he ask everyone to be in this. This movie had a cast featuring Chris Hemsworth, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Jericho, Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Shannon Elizabeth, Deidrich Bader, Method Man, Redman, Fred Armison, Val Kilmer, Jason Biggs, James Van Der Beek, and Ralph Garman.
Writer’s Note: I’m the only one who cares about Ralph Garman being in this movie because he’s a fellow Philly boy like me and we went to the same college (not at the same time of course). Also, if you’re a fan of podcasts, subscribe to The Ralph Report on Patreon, it’s a great listen and it has a daily release. It’s like New York Time’s The Daily, only funnier.
The story of this film is basically the same as Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. Jay and Silent Bob found out a movie is being made about them, only this time it’s a reboot of the previous film made about them, and they go out to stop the film from being finished because this time, Jay accidentally signed over the rights to use the nicknames “Jay & Silent Bob”. It’s a goofy story but honestly, it’s a Kevin Smith film, you pay for what you get. And if you’ve been a fan this long, you know the history of his films and you’re mostly watching this film for the self-referential material.
And with that, there are A LOT of references to all the old films. Like I mentioned above, this film brings so much closure to Kevin Smith’s most popular characters, and brings answers to jokes that you didn’t even know you wanted to know. For instance, you’ll finally find out who stuffed the Quick Stop’s locks with gum, and you’ll even find out what happened to a certain character from Dogma.
If you’re nostalgic like me sometimes, give this a watch, especially if you’re a fan of Kevin Smith’s past work like I am. It will invoke feelings in all the right places if you’re an old softie like I am. It’s a fun movie that doesn’t pretend to be anything but a fun movie. And sometimes, that’s all you need.