Kevin Smith finally got out of his rut but he hasn’t exactly returned to his prime. “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” has enough good jokes to be a decent comedy, though the laughs aren’t totally consistent.
Like before, this movie spends a lot of time celebrating and mocking pop culture and Hollywood. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean every joke is a pop culture reference. Jason Mewes delivers most of the funny lines and his performance makes Jay feel like the same character as before without being too out of touch.
The story is that Jay and Silent Bob must journey to Hollywood to stop a reboot of “Bluntman and Chronic.” They’re joined by Jay’s daughter, Milly, and her friends who add “youth and diversity” to the film, which is something every reboot needs, according to another character. Overall, the cast is strong, and the abundance of celebrity cameos actually make the movie feel like it’s always doing something to keep the jokes fresh. Settings and background characters change frequently, creating a surprisingly good pace.
The plot gets more absurd as the movie goes on. But it tries to remain grounded with the relationship between Jay and Milly. Their scenes are hit and miss. Sometimes, the jokes don’t land. Sometimes, they do. The same can be said for the emotional scenes. It’s a good attempt to make his character look more mature while Silent Bob retains his rare moments of wisdom.
While the movie doesn’t throw out references in every sentence, they still become grating. Smith has always done this in his movies, but now that we’re living in a different time where pop culture saturation is higher, it becomes tiring. The best jokes are when celebrities make fun of Hollywood. Ben Affleck has a great line that throws a subtle jab at “Batman V. Superman.” It made me wish the movie had more of that instead of blatant references where the reference is the joke.
If you’re a lapsed fan of Smith’s movies, this one is worth checking out. If you’ve never liked his characters or writing style, this movie definitely won’t change your mind. It’s a return to form that does a decent job of showing that the two main characters have matured, to a degree. The inconsistency of the jokes and abundance of references brings “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” to three and a half stars out of five.
Ulises Duenas is a critic without a cause, writing reviews for video games, movies and more. He can be reached at duenasu@ymail.com.
