subject: What You Need To Know About Clerks 2 [print this page] Kevin Smith has enjoyed a career built on the foundation of a dedicated group of fans of characters that he has used through most of the films in said career. Smith had never before done a sequel to his films, and instead used characters from previous films in cameos that connected the films into a loose series. However, his film Clerks 2 is his first real sequel.
The first film focused on Dante and Randall. Dante is a cashier at the Quik Stop convenience store, while Randall is an employee at the video store right next to the Quik Stop. Dante does not know what to do with his life, and Randall does not care what he does with his. In the course of a day, Dante figures his life out. Well, Clerks 2 focuses on Dante and Randall roughly ten years later. Randall has managed to burn down the Quik Stop, and in fact Dante has NOT figured his life out. In fact, just the opposite. Him and Randall now work at a fast food place. Dante is about to get married to a woman he does not really love (for job security), and is about to move to Florida. This upsets Randall, who does not want to lose his best friend. And to add to it, Dante starts to realize he is really in love with his boss Becky.
Smith had received some flack among both film critics and his own fans at the prospect of a sequel. Many fans thought that it was a feeble attempt to please people after his film Jersey Girl failed at both the box office and with critics. Fans felt he was going to the well and selling out. However, Smith had made it very clear to his fans that he legitimately had a message in Clerks 2 about what happens when a person is in their thirties and still has no idea what they want to do with their life.
The film revisits the characters,and you find that they have not really changed at all, and in this case that is a GOOD thing. The actors who played Dante and Randall have returned, and you can tell they have not missed a step. The film contains Smith's signature humor style, and is definitely a worthy sequel. So it goes to show that occasionally returning to the well can be a good thing.
