I have always been, unabashedly, a fan of Kevin Smith films. From Clerks, which turns 25 years old this year (which, in turn, makes me feel ancient) through to Yoga Hosers (2016), I have found something to enjoy in almost all of his potty mouthed, silly stories of every day schmoes. The only exception is possibly Cop Out which seemed to be derailed by Bruce Willis and too much improvising that wasn’t, in the end, very funny. Every comedy, even the improvised ones, need a strong script to begin with. It’s a good job, then, that Kevin didn’t write Cop Out.

When he closed the book on his View Askiewniverse with Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, only to open it again a while later with Clerks 2, a lot of his original fans didn’t seem to go with him. Whether it was Jersey Girl, Zack and Miri, Cop Out, Red State, Tusk or Yoga Hosers, his solid fan base only seemed to want the one note joke of Jay and Bob who have always worked best as side characters, even in their own story. Dante and Randall I always thought were his greatest creations but due to Jeff Anderson’s increasingly discerning tastes (or just disinterest), I think Clerks and Clerks II are the only big screen, full length outings for those characters,

This is a little of a shame as not only is there tons to enjoy and some really fascinating characters and stories in his other films but also you always feel like he slips in either Dante and Randall or Jay and Bob style characters in his other films and it can have the affect of it clipping his creative wings somewhat. When he has spread them wide and done something really odd or different - Red State and parts of Tusk - the effect is magnificent.

However it’s 2019, the world has endured a decade plus of pointless and meaningless reboots with it looking like it’s not slowing down any time soon, and so what we really needed to crawl out of the 90s and re-emerge on to our screens was the weed loving, dick joke spouting, man children Jay and Silent Bob to put it all into some sort of skewed perspective… or maybe that should be Askew perspective.

The new trailer - which Kevin Smith dropped today ahead of his Hall H Comic-Con appearance (where there is sure to be more surprises) - seems to be, joyously, exactly what it says on the tin.

Following in the footsteps of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back but also all the other View Askew movies, this looks to be a particularly silly, even knowingly stupid, foul mouth, whirlwind, comic book, romp through Smith’s career - and who can blame him? He gets to give certain fans exactly what they want by also revisiting the world that made his life what it is today, so shortly after he had his life threatened by his 2018 heart attack. Both Smith and us 90s kids needed a reason to celebrate and this looks like as good an excuse as any.

Also in this day and age of division, infighting and political correctness, Smith might have found the one thing we can mostly all agree on - saying swear words and making cock jokes never gets old, even if some weirdly repressed minority still finds it offensive. While the red band trailer piles on the F-bombs and cum references, don’t be surprised if the softer, big hearted side of Smith doesn’t shine through in the film as well. As anyone who follows him on social media knows, the man is in touch with his softer side and, so much the better.

There’s even very welcome, growing diversity in the cast and post #metoo characters in the film. The film is set to feature a prominent deaf character, played by deaf actress Treshelle Edmond, and an all new diverse girl group that features a Muslim girl. For people who think Smith’s suddenly jumped on some bandwagon (this is what bigots say when they’re afraid of change and diversity), he’s always had a refreshingly open attitude and approach to gender, sexuality and humanity as a whole that has off set his foul mouth, childish male protagonists and references to eating arse holes.

This is probably the root of my love of his work, it feels just so very human.

Also if you’re one of those “shit on Smith” people who don’t know what I am saying - don’t forget he’s the only one of Weinstein’s former indie filmmaker set to actually make reparations and donate his Miramax residuals to help the charity Women in Film.

Anyway, back to the trailer…

Let’s be honest, we’re all here for the cameos and I would be lying if I didn’t internally dance like a school kid and punch the air a little when I saw Jason Lee, Matt Damon and, especially, Ben Affleck back with Kevin Smith.

While Kevin never stopped publicly praising or supporting Ben Affleck, since his small cameo in Clerks II, Affleck has been absent of Smith’s world and career. Reports vary but basically it was the combination of becoming a “serious” actor/director, his constant fight with alcohol but also Jennifer Garner’s dissapproval of Smith’s “jokes” at Affleck’s expense that separated the two for a while.

However with this tweet:

…and with the release of this trailer, it looks like Affleck and Smith have started down the road to reuniting and there’s a 15 year old Mallrats fan inside me that couldn’t be happier.

Along with his core cast, it feels like just about everyone has returned in some capacity. I wish we were getting some Will Ferrell Federal Wildlife Marshal Willenholly shenanigans or even some Judd Nelson action but nobody can be disappointed by everyone who is returning and all those new actors, comedians and musicians who have jumped on board for the sequel, too. What about that Tommy Chong cameo huh?!

Lastly the one thing that also made me very happy about this trailer is how good it looks considering its budget is probably about an eighth of what the original was made for.

All in all you can safely say that this fanboy, while knowing it’s crude and dopey, is looking forward to seeing Jay and Silent Bob Reboot this fall.

It’s In Theaters: October 15, 2019

Fathom Events are doing Sneak Preview Screenings: https://www.fathomevents.com/
and Smith and Mewes are going on the road for The Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Roadshow Tour where you can watch the film and see them in person for an intro and Q&A afterwards!: http://rebootroadshow.com/