Movie Reviews: Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019)

This movie isn’t for everyone. If you have not seen any Kevin Smith movies or are not a fan of his work, you won’t have a good time. This movie is very Kevin Smith in that most of the jokes are inside jokes that reference all his other works. I have seen most of his work and I had trouble following some of the jokes. That said, I enjoyed the format of this movie.

The reboot seems to be an essay about the state of modern cinema interwoven in the conclusion of a long-running series. Kevin Smith uses a lot of dialogue to criticize Hollywood and his work. The movie also works as a conclusion to Jay’s narrative. If you have been following the series, you know that Jay starts as this goofy drug dealer, but slowly he has become a selfish and almost heroic character. I believe this movie was a great way to end his story.

I do have a few issues with the movie. The meta jokes get tired and repetitive. The third act is slow and stops suddenly. The minority characters serve as tokens and hold very little weight. The movie cannot stand on its own without being some kind of Kevin Smith fan. It isn’t a bad movie by any means. Some genuinely funny moments had me crying. The acting is fine. The movie was fun for me, but I like his style of film making and I got a lot of the references.

There is a lot I like about this movie, but the cost of admission for this movie is too high. Don’t let this be your first Kevin Smith movie, you will not understand it. If you don’t like his style of movie-making, I would skip this one. This movie is Kevin Smith the movie. If you are a fan of Kevin Smith’s work, then you probably already watched it. If not, it is included with your Prime Membership.