Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

There’s a scene early in the movie where the movie grinds to a halt (this happens often, as J&SB have no knowledge of anything beyond weed, it seems) for a five minute exposition dump. In this case, it starts as a discussion of Hollywood rebooting Bluntman & Chronic, but it evolves into an explanation of the differences between a reboot and a remake. “A reboot”, the movie posits, “is when they redo everything you like from the first movie, but tweak it just enough so it all seems new. A remake is when they take the title and forget everything else.” Apart from how grossly inaccurate this is, it’s amusing because, with the movie having the word “reboot” in it, you’d think it would adhere to the concepts it puts forth. Nope. This movie’s version of a reboot seems to be “just do everything over again”. Going to Hollywood to stop a movie? Check. Traveling with four females? Check. Stop off at a Mooby’s? Yup. Pointless cameos from the wider View Askewniverse that do nothing to advance the plot? Check. Sure, the faces change — instead of antagonizing park rangers, the duo confronts a Klan rally, the females are teens and not 20-somethings — but it’s still the same premise, and the same jokes. And that last part is a huge problem sometimes, as some of the humor is severely dated. If it’s supposed to be a reflection of the lead duo’s inability to escape the 90’s, that’d be something they never say or even hint at. And it still doesn’t excuse numerous gay jokes that are painful to see or hear. In fact, all the humor seems designed for an audience that doesn’t exist. Anybody who grew up with the View Askewniverse is in their 40’s, at least. This movie seems to think we never grew up. The dick and fart jokes may have been funny in 2000, but they’ve aged like milk in the sun. We’ve grown, and this movie hasn’t. And speaking of being stuck in time, there’s the constant callbacks and fourth wall breaking this movie does. It is OVERKILL. Every few minutes, there’s another way this movie is bashing you over the head with either a callback to a previous movie or acknowledging it’s a movie. Kevin Smith has found that level beyond pandering fan service and pushed the idea into unknown realms. When the movie’s momentum isn’t broken to explain something to Jay, it’s broken because Smith has to shoehorn in another inside joke or clever reference or meta moment. And then there’s how the movie abandons not one but BOTH it’s primary plotlines a good 20 minutes before the end. The whole purpose for the cross country, for both J&SB and the teenage girls, ends up thrown by the wayside to cram in a moronic, out of nowhere twist about Chinese-Russian spies. You can see where the movie should’ve ended, about 20-30 minutes before it actually does, but since an hour long movie isn’t acceptable, we get this tacked on action sequence (with more fourth wall breaking shoved in). I could go on with complaints. Harley Quinn Smith’s acting is dreadful. Naming an Islamic girl Jihad in service of a joke is neither funny nor acceptable. The confrontation with the Klan that goes nowhere beyond the scene its in. It’s all just so mediocre and pointless and painful to watch. For every one clever line, there’s 20 that just make you facepalm. Kevin Smith was once an interesting and compelling filmmaker, but he’s long been criticized for losing the pulse of audiences. This movie does not disprove that, not one bit.