Clerks III (2022) Movie Drinking Game
Take a Drink: for every surprising cameo
Take a Drink: for every scene pulled directly from a previous Clerks movie
Take a Drink: for every weed joke
Take a Drink: whenever Jason Mewes’ new teeth give you a doubletake. It does make Skinny Silent Bob less distracting, though.
Do a Shot: for every heart attack or ghost visit
By: Henry J. Fromage (Four Beers) –
It seems like yesterday that I was catching Kevin Smith’s always excellent stage shows in college and discovering his work, and yet somehow here we are nearly 30 years after Clerks and everyone is fucking old, including, I guess, myself.
Although, respect to Smith and Mewes, who maybe even look younger?
With Clerks III, Smith returns to where it all began, with a meta flourish at that. Randal and Dante are back working at the Quick Stop, when Randal (like Smith in real life) has a heart attack. Shaken by the fact he pulled through despite only a 20% chance of survival, he decides he needs to do something with his life already- make a movie about what he knows best, all those strange people in front of and behind the counter of that Quick Stop.
A Toast
Beer Two
Unfortunately, Clerks III has such a chintzy shooting style- and not one that dovetails with the best film stock that $27,575 could buy when shooting the original in 1994, either, which at least would have been a stylistic choice. Instead it comes off as largely being shot on mid-2000s digital, back when Smith still had Hollywood budgets at his disposal.
Beer Three
All of the shot/counter-shot dialogue scenes start to give you whiplash. The buddy who I watched it with even wondered if the actors filmed each other (I guess it is a pretty small shooting space, and maybe the original did it too and I’ve just forgotten?)
Beer Four
All-in-all, this somehow feels like the work of a less mature filmmaker – maybe it’s just nothing’s precocious anymore, but the same old tricks on a much lesser budget don’t land right from a filmmaking perspective. That’s not a commentary on the themes and heart, though, it’s just unfortunate that the style couldn’t amplify and accentuate them more.
Verdict
Clerks III may be not hit all of those old highs, but there’s no questioning the heart of Kevin Smith and his merry band of pranksters.
Clerks III comes out in theaters September 12th. Catch it while you can!
