With the well-known comic wisdom interlaced with the most hilarious uses of profanity always found in Kevin Smith films, "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" may be the best of the View Askew/Jersey Saga yet, for it serves as a knot, tying together all of the previous films, including the Smith-produced "Good Will Hunting." Jason Lee (in two roles), Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Renée Humphrey (*sigh* Trish the Dish!), Brian O'Halloran, and many others reprise their previous roles, while Shannen Doherty ("Mallrats"), Matt Damon ("Chasing Amy," "Dogma"), Chris Rock ("Dogma"), and George Carlin ("Dogma") return in new roles.
Eliza Dushka and Ali Larter keep the hornballs enthused, while Shannon Elizabeth stands as a saving grace for bombshells everywhere by playing a caring, glasses-wearing teddy bear. Her relationship with Jay surprisingly enough makes "J&SB" a love story as well.
Not only does the movie reuse old jokes that nod to previous films, such as the Dante working on his day off in `Clerks,' but it also acknowledges the audience three times, such as with Ben Affleck asking `who would pay to see a movie about Jay and Silent Bob,' then looking at the camera.
Playing off TV shows and other summer movies (and ones from the recent past), "J&SB" pokes fun at "Scream," "The Matrix," "Barney," "The Fugitive," "Dawson's Creek," "American Pie" (drawing heavily from that cast as well), "Planet of the Apes," "Good Will Hunting," and, as the title suggests, "Stars Wars: The Empire Strikes Back." Even Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill appear. Hamill says that someone is going to sue George Lucas when Silent Bob uses the force (à la "Mallrats") to retrieve a bong lightsabre. As with his roles as "The Joker" on "Batman: TAS," "Hobgoblin" from the Spider-Man cartoon, and "The Trickster" from "The Flash" television series, Hamill (who won't let James van der Beek upstage him) excellently portrays the "Bluntman & Chronic" villain known as the Cock-knocker.
As for using "Good Will Hunting," J&SB appear on the set of "GWH2: Hunting Season," which takes quite a violent turn from the original's more intellectual tone (as the title suggests).
All in all, the entire movie has been long in the planning. Smith fans may recall how "Mallrats" ended with J&SB walking away with an orang utan saying that it was another story. This movie IS that story. Because of these kinds of allusions to Smith's previous films, I suggest for anyone who has yet to see "J&SB" that they watch "Good Will Hunting" and the previous four View Askew films ("Dogma," while hilarious, is not as pertinent, for it is only mentioned once by Matt Damon). And for those who have already seen "J&SB," watch the other movies anyway it will make "J&SB" so much more understandable and thus funnier.
PS Will Ferrell is his usual humorously annoying self.
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