Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Blu Ray Review (Lionsgate)
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is a 2019 comedy film written, edited, directed by Kevin Smith (Clerks franchise, Mallrats, Dogma, Tusk, & Chasing Amy). It’s the eighth film in the View Askewniverse. Several known characters from those films have cameos here. It was produced by Liz Destro (Yoga Hosers, Cake, Life of Crime, & The Butler), Jordan Monsanto (Tusk, Holidays, Hollyweed, & Spoilers with Kevin Smith), Ness Saban (I am Wrath, Final Score, Day of the Dead: Bloodline, & The Haunting of Sharon Tate), Jason Mewes (Jay and Silent Bob franchise, Madness in the Method, & Vigilante Diaries), & 24 other producers. Kevin Smith & Jason Mewes did a traveling roadshow to promote the film. It had the second highest per-screen average of 2019. The budget was $10 million & it grossed $3.5 million at the box office.
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is very similar to 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back but not as good. Kevin Smith tries way too hard with this new film. The script is cringe worthy at times and it’s loaded with obvious references for a cheap reaction. That’s the biggest problem with Reboot. Don’t get me wrong, it still has some hilarious moments but I’ve seen most of this before so it was funnier the first time. Maybe I over-hyped it a little because Kevin Smith is one of my favorite directors but he’s never had any luck when it comes to the mainstream & Reboot is no different because it flopped hard despite them doing a traveling roadshow for it. The chemistry between Jason Mewes & Kevin Smith is still amazing. Jason Mewes gives one of his best performances here and it’s nice to see him do some serious drama during it. Harley Quinn Smith was solid in this but I wasn’t really a big fan of the other girls. You will probably be amazed when see the cast list for the production because it’s top notch but I must warn you most of them are quick cameos which includes Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Shannon Elizabeth, Brian O’Halloran, Matt Damon, Val Kilmer, Tommy Chong, Justin Long, Diedrich Bader, Melissa Benoist, Jason Biggs, Keith Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Chris Hemsworth,Chris Jericho, Joe Manganiello, Kate Micucci, Craig Robinson, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Method Man, Redman, and James Van Der Beek. It was very cool to see all the familiar and known characters from the View Askewniverse come back for this. Honestly, I hate to say this but this is my least favorite Jay & Silent Bob related movie but it’s definitely not the worst Kevin Smith film out there. It’s decent plus the cast is amazing for this so it’s worth checking out. If you are diehard Smith fan you will most likely really enjoy it but it just falls flat overall as a comedy film. I really wanted to like this more & it sucks that the first Kevin Smith film that I get to review ends up like this. I was hoping for more but I just ended up disappointed with it. I would suggest renting or streaming it first before considering a purchase.
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Lionsgate! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks fantastic on blu ray. Since it’s a road movie, it has a huge variety of locations which shine here. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is solid. It’s not really that type of film so the audio don’t really jump out at you for this release. The dialogue is very clean and the music sounds good here. It also has English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Let’s discuss the special features from Lionsgate! It has almost 59 minutes of “Cast Interviews”. It has interviews with Kevin Smith, Shannon Elizabeth, Brian O’Halloran, Matt Damon, Justin Long, Diedrich Bader, Jason Biggs, Keith Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Chris Hemsworth,Chris Jericho, Joe Manganiello, Kate Micucci, Fred Armisen, Method Man, Redman, James Van Der Beek, Harley Quinn Smith, and many others. They chat about the project and their experience on it. They talk about their characters and working with Kevin Smith. They go over how much Kevin Smith has matured & changed over the years. They bring up Reboots and Hollywood cashing in on them. “Kevin & Jay Interview Cast and Crew” is almost 30 minutes. It has interviews with Shannon Elizabeth, Rosario Dawson, and various cast/crew. Rosario chats about how she got into acting. She brings up Kids & He Got Game. She talks about being in the Marvel universe & doing all the Netflix shows. Shannon Elizabeth chats about coming baack to this world. She talks about living in Africa now & she runs a foundation over there. Others bring up their experience on this & what they did in the movie. It has almost 10 minutes of “Bloopers” featuring some goofs and gags from the set. “Hair Reel” is almost 2 minutes and it’s a very weird extra. Kevin Smith always delivers when it comes to bonus material, this definitely makes this release worth picking up if you are interested in it. It also includes a slipcover and a digital code. It’s available everywhere right now!!!!
