Chris Pierdomenico
Long before shared universes were the standard for movie franchises, indie movie icon Kevin Smith was weaving together his own world of interconnected foul-mouthed characters with hearts of gold. The “View Askewniverse” began with Clerks back in 1994 (sort of the Iron Man of this cinematic universe) and continued with Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Clerks II.
With Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, the 7th installment of the View Askewniverse, coming to theaters this fall (and serving as a direct sequel to Strike Back), I thought it would be fun to rank the first six movies that lead up to it.
Full disclosure: I’m a huge Kevin Smith fan and I love every movie. So, even my “least favorite” is still a movie I very much adore. In fact, making this list was extraordinarily difficult. So here goes nothing!
#6 – Mallrats
Yes, it’s the lowest on my list. But I adore this movie. In many ways, Mallrats is the natural sequel to Clerks – both are about slackers hanging out in a single location over the course of one day. Mallrats is essentially a bigger budget Clerks, albeit without the raw, gritty spirit that characterized the original.
That being said, Mallrats is full of hilarious characters and is a lot of fun, especially for the comic book lover. Brodie (Jason Lee) and T.S. (Jeremy London) both get dumped by their girlfriends on the same day, and escape to the mall to try to win them back. Brodie is easily one of Kevin’s best characters: a comic book guru who thinks about any and every outrageous what-if regarding his favorite superheroes (such as, can Mr. Fantastic stretch every part of his body? How does the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane work, logistically?) Clearly, he has a one track mind. While desperately trying to reconnect with his girlfriend Rene (Shannon Doherty), Brodie runs into his hero Stan Lee, who gives him such sage advice. Though not all is what it seems, it’s a sweet scene, and paved the way for Stan Lee’s future cameos.
#5 – Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Like The Avengers, this was Kevin Smith’s first “team-up” movie, bringing back nearly every main character that was introduced in his first four movies. This time however, they were supporting characters, with Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) taking over as the protagonists. Instead of learning some serious life lessons about relationships or trying to stop two angels from getting back into heaven, Jay and Silent Bob’s motivation is simple but hysterical: stop Hollywood from making a movie about them because they can’t handle the internet comments.
Like Mallrats, Strike Back doesn’t have the same heart and existential depth as the other View Askew movies, but it makes up for it by being absolutely hilarious; it’s easily Kevin’s funniest movie. In this way, it’s an even better version of Mallrats, giving us the wacky antics of Jay and Silent Bob but committing fully to it. It’s like an adult version of a Warner Bros. cartoon. Add that in with the scathing satire of Hollywood (including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon appearing as parody versions of themselves in the fake Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season), and it’s impossible to not have a great time watching this movie.
#4 – Clerks II
After “God” in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back seemingly closed the book on the View Askewniverse, Clerks II re-opened it, and served as the first direct sequel to any of Kevin’s films, moving the action from the QuickStop to Mooby’s (a McDonald’s/Disney fast-food knockoff introduced in Dogma). Clerks II delivers on most of its predecessor’s essentials: Dante and Randal’s (Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson) vulgar and absurd conversations/debates, Jay and Silent Bob loitering in front of a store, action over the course of one day, out-of-this-world customers, and a crazy third-act twist involving a donkey that out-bizarres the original’s twist in the bathroom. Unlike the original, stand-alone vignettes are scarce (but watch for the clever Lord of the Rings vs. Star Wars sequence). Compared to the first, Clerks II is largely driven by a singular plot: Dante’s last day of work in New Jersey before moving to Florida with his fiancé Emma (played by Kevin’s wife, Jennifer Schwalbach), and how that impacts both Randal and Becky (Rosario Dawson), the two people closest to him.
Like Mallrats (the first defacto “sequel” to Clerks), Clerks II lacks the grittiness and edge of the original. But it makes up for it with tremendous heart. Dante and Randal are more developed than they’ve ever been, and the dialogue that Smith writes for them is deeply poignant and relatable. The jailhouse scene in the end is one of Kevin’s most poignantly written scenes (and one of the best scenes in the entire View Askewniverse), and the ending is a love letter to all Kevin Smith fans. It just works.
#3 – Clerks
Clerks will always hold a very special place in my heart for a number of reasons, but namely: it’s the movie that made me realize that filmmaking was possible, and I wouldn’t have started down this path without it.
Clerks is a simple story: Dante is forced to work on his day off and re-examines his relationship with Veronica (Marilyn Ghigliotti) in light of his ex Caitlin (the late Lisa Spoonauer) resurfacing in his life, all while dealing with the antics of his profound but lazy coworker Randal. It’s brilliant in its portrayal of existentialism and consumer culture while existing under the guise of two guys talking about pop culture all day long. The film revealed Smith’s penchant for writing clever dialogue for the first time to the entire world, and Smith’s limitations in filming this project in one setting with lack of professional cameras and lighting really allows the writing to shine.
Part of me feels like Clerks deserves to be higher than my #3 spot (and as I mentioned, this list was incredibly difficult to make). But Clerks was simply a starting point for Smith, and the elements of thoughtful writing and lovable, hilarious characters that defined the film resurfaced in future films in even more clever ways, at times.
#2 – Dogma
This is by far the most unusual piece of the View Askewniverse – it’s to Clerks what Thor was to Iron Man. Dogma follows two renegade angels Bartleby and Loki (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) who are determined to get back into Heaven, no matter what God says. The only thing stopping them from doing so (and destroying the entire universe by proving God wrong) is a woman named Bethany who is the last descendant of Christ. Along for the journey is a muse (Selma Hayek), the 13th Apostle (Chris Rock), the voice of God (Alan Rickman) and of course Jay and Silent Bob.
While most of Smith’s films shine a light on the complexities of romantic relationships, Dogma puts the spotlight on humankind’s relationship with God. After all, our protagonist Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) is a long time Catholic who is doubting her own faith as she goes along on this bizarre journey to stop two angels. The movie represented a massive evolution for Smith. Moving beyond the idea of “two guys talking in one place” (though Bartleby and Loki are clearly a tribute to Dante and Randal or Holden and Banky), Dogma is a full-on adventure that is part road trip, part existential quest, part hilarious comedy, and part action movie (his first one!) Smith weaves all of these pieces together seamlessly, and I would argue it is the most ambitious installment of the View Askewniverse. The best part of it is it works: the audience can relate to the crisis of faith of not only Bethany, but the two fallen angels as well. It’s spectacularly creative and hits close to home for many of us, on a multitude of levels.
#1 – Chasing Amy
Picking the top movie of the View Askewniverse was incredibly difficult – I was torn between Clerks, Dogma and Chasing Amy, all easily my top 3. What eventually led to my decision is simply that Chasing Amy represents all of the greatest parts of the View Askewniverse. You not only have clever dialogue, heartfelt characters and pop culture dissection, but perhaps one of the most authentic looks at relationships ever captured on film. Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) are two artists who draw a comic based on the adventures of Jay and Silent Bob. Things become complicated when Holden falls in love for another comic book artist, Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), who happens to be a lesbian.
Chasing Amy has the best writing, acting and genuineness of the View Askewniverse movies. In many ways, it takes one of the basic premises of Clerks (a guy being irrationally upset about his girlfriend’s past) and takes a far more mature in-depth examination into how destructive the male ego can be. Not to mention, this came out in 1997, at a time when the gay community was typically portrayed only for laughs and rarely portrayed as main characters. Chasing Amy gave us not only one but two very complex gay characters: Alyssa Jones and Hooper Lamont (Dwight Ewell). In short, Chasing Amy is the View Askew movie that feels the most like real-life.
Do you agree with my rankings? Disagree? Where do you think Jay and Silent Bob Reboot will land once it’s released? Let me know in the comments below!
