Clerks II

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
(Redirected from Clerks 2)

The 2006 sequel to the classic independent comedy film Clerks, and for now, the final film in the View Askewniverse.

Ten years after the events in Clerks, Dante opens up the shutters on the Quick Stop windows to find that's the store's on fire (thanks to Randal leaving the coffee pot on). Cut to about a year later: Dante and Randal are working at the local Mooby's franchise, and Dante is working his last day since he's getting ready to be married. Of course, things never quite go according to plan in the View Askewniverse...

Tropes used in Clerks II include:
  • Actor Allusion:
    • Jay's gone through rehab and no longer does drugs (despite still dealing them); Jason Mewes also went to rehab prior to filming this movie (allegedly, Kevin Smith would not allow him to be in the movie unless he cleaned himself up). Unlike Jay, however, Mewes has not become a Christian, or at least not a devout one; this change in Jay's character is more than likely inspired by the events of Dogma.
    • Emma's hatred of New Jersey is apparently inspired by Jennifer Schwalbach Smith's own distaste for the state.
  • Actor Shared Background: Jay's story of how he and Silent Bob finally sobered up parallels that of Jay's actor Jason Mewes, including being arrested for driving around with a deployed airbag.
  • A Date with Rosie Palms:

Elias: I turn down chicks left and right!
Randal: Your chicks are your "left" and "right".

  • Aesop Amnesia: Of a sort, Jay and Silent Bob are both now "Born Again" Christians, even though their experiences in Dogma would mean they were enlightened to the idea that none of the religious texts are accurate.
  • All There in the Manual: Where's the Beef, a comic chronicling the year in between the Quick Stop burning and Dante and Randal's arrival at Mooby's.
  • Angry Black Woman: Wanda Sykes' character unloads on Randal when he says "porch monkey" and a host of other racial slurs openly in front of her. Meanwhile, her husband (played by comedian Earthquake) doesn't really give a damn and just wants the food.
    • "Baby, you can't taste racism!"
      • It's revealed in the bonus features that the majority of that scene was ad-libbed.
      • Also a minor case of Hypocritical Humor, since before Randal insults her, she and her husband were talking about Mexican immigrants using equally offensive language.
  • The Bear: Kinky Kelly's assistant (later revealed to be his partner). Though he's never explicitly mentioned as being gay, he fits the other parts of the trope to a T.
    • I mean, that is a male donkey he's fucking. Although when it's another animal, perhaps the gender aspect goes out the window.
  • Bigger Is Better in Bed: Dante and Randal discuss the merits of female version of this trope.

Dante: You wouldn't wanna be with a girl with an oversized clit?
Randal: No! Cause the next stop is a guy with an undersized dick!

  • Boldly Coming: A Discussed Trope during a Seinfeldian Conversation between Jay and Silent Bob.
  • Book Ends: For the film alone, as well as the entire View Askewniverse. The film starts out in black and white, just like Clerks, then ends with black and white. Clerks was the first View Askew film, this one was the last (for now).
  • Brand X: Mooby's, of course.
    • And, if you look close at the end of the film, you can see a poster for Nails Cigarettes on the door of the rebuilt Quick Stop.
  • Butt Monkey: Elias (and to a lesser extent, Dante)
  • But You Screw One Goat!: ...er, pickle.
  • The Cameo: Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Wanda Sykes, Scott Mosier, and even Kevin Smith's young daughter, Harley Quinn Smith.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The Bluntman and Chronic film from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which is the reason Jay and Silent Bob have fifty grand to spend on reopening the Quick Stop and RST Video.
  • Color Wash: Kevin Smith had asked director of photographer Dave Klein to have the colors in the film desaturated, to give an effect similar to the original film's black & white. The only scene without it is the dancing scene.
  • Continuity Nod
    • During Randal's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Dante, Dante interjects: "And what should I do if I was half the master of my own destiny the great Randal Graves is?" Randal calls himself a "master of his own destiny" in Clerks after winning the "title-dictates-behavior" argument.
    • Dante helps Becky with her nail polish in the back of the store, just like he did with Veronica.
      • And, moreover, Jeff Anderson (Randal) flubbed the line "what smells like nail polish?" on the first take. Instead, he said "What smells like shoe polish?"
    • Randal puts an "I EAT COCK" sign on Elias's employee-of-the-month photo that looks exactly like the one Jay puts on the door of the Quick Stop and gets Randal to stand near in Clerks.
    • In a nod to a more recent part of continuity, Jay's shirt reads "Justice TLF" in one scene.
    • The film overloads on these in the last five minutes.
      • "I assure you, we're re-opened!"
      • "You know what? You're not even supposed to be here today."
      • "Pack o' cigarettes?"
        • The same woolen-cap smoker from Clerks, no less.
      • The "milk maid" is also the same woman (Kevin Smith's mother, to be exact) from Clerks.
      • The songs over the end credits to both films are Soul Asylum songs.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Practically the entire cast says it at least once, but Randal and Dante are probably the worst offenders this time around.
  • Crazy Prepared: Right after Elias removed the "I eat cock" sign from his picture on the wall and walks away, Randal while following him, slaps a brand new sign right on there without missing a beat.
  • Deliberately Monochrome: The first and last shots of the film except for the flames inside the Quick Stop. See Continuity Nod.
    • They were the last shots filmed. Kevin Smith has said that if he'd known the black and white could look as good as it did he probably would have shot the entire film that way.
      • Variant: As mentioned in the commentary, the entire film was desaturated after filming, because the colors were far too bright and cheery. The dance scene where everything is brighter? That's how everything actually looked!
  • The Devil: Randal at one points taunts Elias, a devout Christian, by talking about "...the Beast we call the Desolate One! The First of the Fallen, the Spoiler of Virgins, the Master of Abortions! (grabs mike) Let me help you out of your chair, Grandma!"
  • Diegetic Switch: The song played at the end of the movie - "Misery" by Soul Asylum - was actually played from a stereo from off camera (so the actors could hear it) and only switches to non-diagetic once the credits kick in.
  • Dismotivation: Played pretty much straight with Dante until the end of the film, where he and Randal decide to buy the Quick Stop and reopen it themselves.
  • Dumbass Has a Point: Eternal slacker Randal puts forward the notion that for all the crap they went through working there, both he and Dante were happiest when they were working at the Quick Stop.
  • Everyone Went to School Together: "Anyone else from our graduating class back there?" This, in fact, seems to be a recurring theme throughout the Askewniverse.
  • Extremely Short Timespan: Apart from the opening and the closing scenes, the movie takes place over one day, just like Clerks.
  • Fan Service: Rosario Dawson dancing on the rooftop of Mooby's. In a tank top. With no bra on. God bless you, Kevin Smith.
  • Fridge Brilliance: Did Becky REALLY get mayonnaise in her vagina having sex with Dante as she claimed, or was it...?
  • Funny Background Event: Dante and Randal having a conversation while Jay is bouncing his bare ass against the window, while Bob is making funny faces, switching to Jay pretending to be using a speed bag.
  • Groin Attack: Emma to Dante.
  • Head-Tiltingly Kinky: The donkey show. They even perform the action while watching it.

Becky: I'm disgusted and repulsed ...and I can't. Look. Away.

Randal: (to Dante) You're my best friend, and I love you. In a totally non-gay way.
Jay: (to Silent Bob) Yeah, right.

    • Not to mention the fact that their every argument sounds like a lover's tiff.
    • Jay demands that Dante and Randal engage in oral sex before he'll give them the money. Bob gives him a funny look and he takes it back. In a cut scene, Bob follows up with "I just think you're a deeply-repressed gay man."
  • Innocent Bigot: Randal didn't realize his Racist Grandma taught him some unfortunate terminology.
  • Internal Homage: Randal dragging Elias into Mooby's from off-screen the second he walks in the door, just as Dante does to Randal at the end of Clerks to start their fight scene.
    • The shot of Becky changing the light bulb over the rebuilt Quick Stop counter is set up just like the shot of Dante doing the same when the horny old man asks to use the restroom in Clerks, as part of the last five minute's Hurricane of Continuity Nods.
  • Info Dump: Becky and Dante's conversation while he's painting her nails.
  • Insistent Terminology: "Oy, fucko...we prefer to call it inter-species erotica."
  • Insult Backfire:

Pot-buying teen: Is that a fucking Bible?
Jay: Hey, hey, the HOLY fucking Bible, son.

  • It Got Worse: When Dante gets back to Mooby's after looking for Becky. You think it can't get any worse for him... then the cops turn up. With a fire truck right by.
  • It Tastes Like Feet: Jay and Bob can apparently identify the taste of "piss and flies."
  • Jerkass: Randal, and Lance.
  • Nerds Are Virgins: Elias, although according to him it's because he's afraid of Pillow Pants. It's interesting to note that Randal is not less nerdy than Elias; Elias is simply more dorky, and yet he has a girlfriend and not Randal. Dante is as nerdy as both of them and is definitely not a virgin. Make of that what you will.
  • N-Word Privileges: The only time Becky loses her cool is when Randal says "Porch Monkey," then "Nigger," then launches into a series of other similar epithets. Dante also loses it, but A) He's always losing it. B) He's white. C) Becky is way more pissed off than him.
    • This was, notably, directly in front of a pair of black customers.
  • Never Live It Down: An In-Universe example is Lance Dowds, aka "Picklefucker."
  • Oh Crap: Dante's discovery of the Quick Stop being on fire at the beginning of the film.
    • Dante has another one when Emma catches him snogging Becky during the donkey show.
  • One-Scene Wonder: Hey kids, it's Jason Lee/Ben Affleck/Ethan Suplee/Earthquake/Wanda Sykes/Kevin's Mom!
  • Please Don't Leave Me: Randal to Dante, at the end of the movie.
  • Porn Stache: Ben Affleck's character.
  • Production Posse: Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, and of course Brian O'Halloran and Jason Mewes.
  • Racist Grandma: Randal's called him a "porch monkey" and referred to a broken bottle as a "nigger knife."

Randal: She just liked to say "Sheeny curse" a lot. It was cute!

Elias: Not the Rings, Randal. Say what you will about Jesus, but leave the Rings out of this.

    • And from Randal...

Randal: There is only one trilogy, you fucking morons!

  • Shout-Out:
  • Silent Bob: Three guesses, no dice.
  • Smug Snake: Lance Dowds, although being reminded of his "Picklefucker" past takes some of his edge off.
  • Splash of Color: The flames inside the Quick Stop at the beginning of the film.
  • Stealth Pun: The beginning depicts what might be described as "Dante's inferno."
    • Made less stealthy by the chapter titles on the DVD, which are all named for literary classics. Guess what the first scene is called.
  • Stunned Silence: Randal, series snarker, who has a smart ass retort for almost anything, is simply rendered near speechless by the "Pillowpants" discussion.
  • Take That: The film features a 3-minute debate on The Lord of the Rings, with Randal calling the movies boring and saying in jest that there should've been a Hobbit sex scene. He mocks the movie so much that he causes a LotR fan (who is a customer at the restaurant) to vomit in disgust.
  • Vagina Dentata: Pillowpants the Pussy Troll. End of discussion.
  • The Voiceless: Like with all View Askewniverse films, averted with Silent Bob, this time at the end of the film.

" I got nothin'."

  • Vomit Indiscretion Shot: When Randal makes The Lord of the Rings fan throw up.
  • What Could Have Been: Bob Weinstein wanted "Pillowpants" to turn out to be real, but ultimately decided that was too silly when Smith explained why it was funnier the way it was.
  • You Make Me Sic: Inverted when Elias looks at the "I EAT COCK" word bubble Randal put on his employee of the month picture and says, "Well at least you spelled cock right this time."
  • Your Answer to Everything: When Silent Bob finally speaks, but has no advice relevant to the conversation, Jay rips on him about it, only for Silent Bob to point out:

What do you ever contribute to the proceedings? You've got one answer for everything: "Pussy, man."

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