Matt Meyer
Recap
Review
How meta is too much meta? Is such a thing possible? Kevin Smith returns at last to the franchise that made his career with Clerks III, in theaters this fall. The first trailer debuted today:
Upon watching the trailer, one must wonder: who, exactly is this movie for? A continuous shout-out to jokes from the original cult-classic Clerks, now twenty-eight years old, Clerks III looks like catnip for die-hard Smith stans with little new to say. That could be wrong – after all, Jay & Silent Bob Reboot looked like it had the same issues, then wound up with a surprising amount to say about fatherhood and accepting adult responsibilities. Clerks III was written with Smith’s near-death experience from a heart attack in the rearview mirror, and it appears at least in part to be addressing the director’s lingering thoughts on that traumatic experience. Whether he’s able to thread the needle between meta callbacks and profundity about the impermanence of life remains to be seen, but at least he’s still out there making his fans happy. That counts for something, even if there isn’t anything new to say.
Clerks III releases theatrically this fall from Lionsgate, and stars Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Trevor Fehrman Marilyn Ghighliotti, and more!
