Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

I wouldn't say I had tremendous expectations for this movie. The last Kevin Smith movie I unequivocally liked was Clerks 2 and that was 2006. But I hoped he could conjure up some of the old magic one more time. 

He kind of does. I mostly enjoyed Reboot, even as I know it's not much of a movie. It makes Strike Back look like a masterwork of linear storytelling. 

It has way more jokes that fall flat than probably all the other Askewuniverse films combined, but I did laugh a lot, even big ones occasionally.

Hate to say it but the titular stars are the weak link here. Smith's over the top mugging here is way out of control. There's not a single shot of Silent Bob here where Smith isn't contorting his face to look wacky. It's rarely funny. 

And as for Jason Mewes, man, it's mean as hell to say it but he is hard to look at. I know he had major issues with drugs, and man has it aged him, but he is supposed to be a kind of zany and charismatic character and I found him hard to watch. It's not like he was ever really an actor, but that kind of inherent funniness he had is gone.

The best thing in this movie is a Smith, but it's Kevin's daughter Harley Quinn. She is legitimately fantastic here, and gives a genuinely strong performance, even when the movie tries to get sentimental. I would absolutely like to see her in a movie independent from her dad.

As with Strike Back the cameos never stop coming, and there are some returnees too. Chris Hemsworth, Melissa Benoist, Fred Armisen and Rosario Dawson pop up. And we once again get Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Lee and Joey Adams.

There's also a wonderful scene in the credits of Kevin and Stan Lee rehearsing what would have been Stan's cameo for the film. 

It's kind of hard to ignore how old everyone has gotten. Kevin Smith is one of the few regulars here who doesn't look like almost 20 years have passed since Strike Back.