“…The use of color may strike some auds as a concession to the mainstream (the first “Clerks” wore its grungy monochrome like a badge of honor), as might the prominently played and occasionally gooey scenes of romantic flirtation between Dante and Becky, some of which involve toenail-painting. Yet if “Clerks II” doesn’t have quite the scabrous kick of its predecessor, the chance to revisit a classic premise must have renewed the writer in Smith, whose banter here often achieves a sharpness and quality that haven’t been in evidence since 1999’s “Dogma.””

**SPOILERS AHEAD** Ecran Large (French Review) Translated

12 years after the premiere of Clerks and its model employees, Kevin Smith brings back his anti-heroes Dante Hicks and Randal Graves to where he left them, not far from Quick Stop, between the used K7 videos and the out-of-date bricks of milk. And nothing’s really changed, just the black and white of the era, at least before their minimarket dies in flames. Head towards Mooby’s, the local fast food store and cave of idolisation of Dogma, to have long conversations no longer of the Star Wars trilogy, but about Peter Jackson or the future live adaptation of Transformers!! You have to see it to believe it.

Seeing it is already a good thing, but seeing the film at a midnight screening at Cannes with the film’s team in a room of fans is a whole other experience. If it’s of course necessary to have seen Clerks, in 1994 or in a catch-up session just before the festival, it is also advised to know the multiple works of Kevin Smith, from Mallrats to Chasing Amy, passing by Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.

A true life of cinemas, which gives this new Clerks all its value, all its savour. Indeed, if the adventures of Bluntman and Chronic can amuse or the loving disputes of Ben Affleck and Jason Lee can move you, the every day life that is so commonplace and nevertheless so removed in Quick Stop is a summary of life, friendship, love (why not!) and especially of humor. It’s hard to count the number of scathing retorts (homophobic, racist, sexist, vulgar etc) of Randal, or to stop laughing at the hilarious send-up of the Lord of the Rings (”men who march”).

If purists will regret a maybe less bitter tone compared to the first Clerks, they should not forget that Kevin Smith is, like his pals Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) and Joss Whedon (Buffy), the spokesman (involuntary, unconscious) of time and of a popular culture. The fan boys today have the power, and the film is more accessible but not compromised. It shows with the ease that he manages to introduce two new and quickly inescapable characters, the cracking Rosario Dawson and the hilarious Trevor Fehrman. Or how he meets the challenge of the emotion of the scene between both of these more model employees. So, at the end, the most commonplace sentence of the world – “today is the first day of the rest of our lives” – returns to the heart. The standing ovation of more than a quarter of an hour was deserved… I was there.

“…As for the film itself, well, on the whole it succeeds on the same sort of level that the first film worked on, as a guy living in this day and age, in his 20s. This film is geared more toward those people who still haven’t found happiness or direction in their lives, despite being in their 30s, and all of the pressures/expectations that come with that. But before I make it all sound like a bore, trust me when I say that this film’s primary motivation is jokes, laughs, gags and vulgarity galore, so don’t be thinking that K. Smith has pussied out.

…

When I first heard about this sequel being made, I was scared like many of you, but I’m happy to report that this is a solid movie with laughs galore, pop-culture reference galore, vulgarity and sexual connotations galore, and even a cute romance for the ladies in the audience. If you’re a fan of Kevin Smith and his previous films, I see no reason why this movie wouldn’t rock your balls off. Note: If you stay to the end of the credits you can see more “Thank yous” from Smith, as well as his tease that “Jay and Silent Bob might be back” in the future, and I for one, am suddenly aroused by that thought all over again. Snoochie bootchies, beeyatch!”