Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back (Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Film: C

 

 

Kevin Smith is the hip comic fan/filmmaker/comedian who also happens to be an entrepreneur who understands two audiences.  One are geeks, the other are the post-Punk market.  Unlike many independent filmmakers who have a hit and disappear, his Clerks was only the beginning.  This led to follow-up highs (Chasing Amy), lows (Mallrats) and mixed risks (Dogma).  Though Clerks 2 just came and went in theaters and featured Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith), the notes on the back of Disney’s new Blu-ray version of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) say this is the conclusion of their story.  I guess Disney is still sore about the Weinstein Brothers leaving Miramax.

 

This time, the dopey duo are peeved that someone has decided to do a film about them without their permission, so they intend to get back at the thieves in a way that makes stealing “intellectual properties” have a new perspective.  However, this was intended as a film to make up for how bad Mallrats was and it seems the credibility and fun that made the earlier films inarguable unto themselves for street credibility was shot.  Though better than that mess, the film is more miss than hit and unless you are a diehard fan of the duo and their Bluntman/Chronic shtick, it never takes off.

 

Old friends Ben Affleck and Jason Lee return, plus the film offers appearances by Chris Rock, Eliza Dushku, Ali Larter, Carrie Fisher, George Carlin and three actors who have become more popular:  Seann William Scott, John Stewart and especially Will Ferrell.  They help the project, but they can only overcome a script that simply wants to reestablish a franchise that jumped the shark just enough to make this seem forced too often throughout.  On top of that, Affleck was a big star now and was about to go into his private Jennifer Lopez cycle that became a media frenzy.

 

The film wants to criticize the Hollywood establishment, but by this time, too many had become part of it that the critiques did not ring as true or hip.  After Jersey Girl and with hindsight, the situation has become worse.  Sure, Hollywood is still so overcensored and self-censored that it is funny at times just by being crude and daring, but that eventually gets too repetitious and the earlier films just seem funnier and funnier.

 

So you’d think having it in Blu-ray might make it funnier by seeing and hearing everything more clearly.  Well, this transfer is off, so off in fact that though we have seen worse.  However, the 1080p 2.35 X 1 image was shot in Super 35mm and that is a factor in why it is as weak as it is.  The less definition, the more volatile and though this is a bit better than standard DVD, it is weak like some of the Sony titles on Blu-ray that were early Superbit DVDs.  That means barely passable.

 

As for the sound, the best track is the PCM 16bit/48kHz 5.1 mix, superior to the standard Dolby Digital, but Smith’s sound mixes are always odd.  Sometimes, he goes the Woody Allen route with dialogue-based scenes to the point where they seem almost monophonic, then he gets his Superhero/Star Wars thing going and the sound suddenly kicks in.  Fans might be used to it if they have home theater systems, but the rest should take note.

 

The more deluxe DVD edition of this film has plenty of extras, but this one only has the audio commentary with Smith, Mewes and producer Scott Mosier.  It is odd more than fun and sometimes is informative.  Disney may reissue it with those extras when 50GB Blu-rays become commonplace, but this should do for fans at least.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo